# No degradation of temperature-mediated phenotypic plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster after more than 275 generations of artificial selection on body-size

## TL;DR

This study shows that even after many generations of selective breeding for body size in fruit flies, their ability to adjust size based on temperature remains largely unchanged.

## Contribution

The study reveals that artificial selection for body size in Drosophila does not significantly reduce temperature-driven phenotypic plasticity.

## Key findings

- Artificial selection for over 275 generations had modest effects on developmental plasticity of body size.
- Sex-specific changes in plasticity were observed, particularly in lines selected for small body size.
- Overall size and sexual size dimorphism changed, but temperature-mediated plasticity remained largely intact.

## Abstract

Body size is a fundamental trait that shapes a species' development and evolution. Importantly, body size can also be affected by environmental variables, especially development temperature. Here we measure phenotypic plasticity in a series of lineages that had experienced artificial selection on body size for over 275 generations. We found, despite substantial changes in overall size and sexual size dimorphism, only modest effects on developmental plasticity. Still, there were some significant, changes in the sex specific slopes of the relationship between size and rearing temperature, largely due to a reduction in plasticity in the treatment selected for small body size.