White Honours Projects

The evolution of energy metabolism and life history

Background: Much of the biodiversity impact of environmental change is likely to be mediated through physiological responses including energy and water balance. To test the importance of energy metabolism for ecology and global change responses, we have used artificial selection to evolve replicate lines of fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster that have genetically determined differences in their rates of energy metabolism. After more than 25 generations of selection, these flies now exhibit changes in life history (rates of growth, reproduction, and death) as well as energy metabolism.

Project Aims: This project will use our fly model to determine the effect of metabolic evolution on other traits. You will have the opportunity to choose traits that are of interest to you, selected to answer your question of interest.

Techniques: The project will make use of respirometry techniques to measure rates of metabolism, combined with techniques appropriate to measure the focal traits of interest.

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The evolution of temperature-sensitive biology

Background: Temperature has a profound effect on physiology and biochemistry - most biological rates increase by 2-3 fold for every 10 °C increase in temperature. Why?

Project Aims:  The aim of this project is to determine if habitat characteristics have shaped the evolution of the thermal sensitivity of physiological rates in a tractable clade of animals.

Techniques:  The project will make use of respirometry techniques to measure the effect of temperature on rates of energy expenditure, for invertebrate animals from a range of habitats. These empirical data could then be combined with data from the literature, to encompass a broad range of species.

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