Effect of Heat Stress on Drosophila Melanogaster

Abstract:

Stress is not a situation or a condition during an adverse condition, as it is generally assumed. In fact, it is a way by which the body overcomes a demanding or undesirable situation. Every day, young and old experience stress at some level. According to the American Psychological Association of Stress (2020), it has been estimated that nearly 2 in 3 adults (65%) are faced with stress. In Drosophila Melanogaster, heat stress can deplete energy level reserves in them. A transient thermal stress can induce a lasting 'memory effect' on body fat storage in Drosophila melanogaster, which can reduce their survivorship. This study was carried out to determine the effect of heat stress at different time ranges on Drosophila melanogaster. Whirlch wild type Drosophila melanogaster was populated and then grouped into four groups with 30 flies of 3 replicate each and were maintained in a plastic vial on standard cornmeal food at 25°C. The control group flies were maintained under normal temperature, while the experimental group flies were induced with 20 mins, 30 mins, and 40 mins heat shock respectively. This experiment lasted for 15 days. We recorded the climbing performance of flies and ran a statistical analysis using One-Way ANOVA followed by a post Hoc Tukey test, and we discovered a significant decrease (*p=<0.05) in the climbing performance of flies induced with heat shock compared to the control group, also we observed a significant increase (*p=<0.05) in the MDA level of flies induced with heat shock when compared with the control group. And a significant decrease (*p=<0.05) in the GSH level was observed when compared with that of the control.