Do laboratory acclimation experiments predict field responses? Cold tolerance and metabolomic divergence in Drosophila suzukii
Abstract
While thermal acclimation refers to the acquisition of thermal tolerance following sublethal pre-exposure under laboratory conditions, acclimatization describes the same plastic process occurring in the field, in response to both thermal and non-thermal cues. This distinction has led to concerns that laboratory experiments may not fully portray the costs and benefits of field acclimatization, particularly regarding overwintering capacity. We studied adult and developmental lab acclimation in Drosophila suzukii, at both constant and fluctuating regimes, as well as field acclimatization at various times of the year. We assessed cold tolerance and metabolomic profiles using targeted and untargeted tools. All acclimatory treatments promoted cold tolerance. Developmental acclimation and acclimatization produced comparable cold tolerance, exceeding that of adult acclimation. In acclimatized flies, cold tolerance rose progressively from September to December. Metabolomic profiles revealed shared cryoprotective compound accumulation, but also treatment-specific differences across acclimation and acclimatization treatments. Although constant laboratory acclimation is often assumed to fail to capture the intricacies of environmental variability and the associated phenotypic changes, our findings show that even this simple approach can serve as a robust predictor of D. suzukii’s thermal tolerance mediated by natural acclimatization, thereby validating a broad body of laboratory research conducted on Drosophila and other insects.
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BibTeX
@article{raynaudberton2026laboratory,
title = {{Do laboratory acclimation experiments predict field responses? Cold tolerance and metabolomic divergence in Drosophila suzukii}},
author = {Bréa Raynaud-Berton and Nathalie Le Bris and Yann Guitton and Hervé Colinet},
journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1098/rspb.2026.0340},
url = {https://univ-rennes.hal.science/hal-05676681v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Do laboratory acclimation experiments predict field responses? Cold tolerance and metabolomic divergence in Drosophila suzukii
AU - Bréa Raynaud-Berton
AU - Nathalie Le Bris
AU - Yann Guitton
AU - Hervé Colinet
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2026.0340
UR - https://univ-rennes.hal.science/hal-05676681v1
AB - While thermal acclimation refers to the acquisition of thermal tolerance following sublethal pre-exposure under laboratory conditions, acclimatization describes the same plastic process occurring in the field, in response to both thermal and non-thermal cues. This distinction has led to concerns that laboratory experiments may not fully portray the costs and benefits of field acclimatization, particularly regarding overwintering capacity. We studied adult and developmental lab acclimation in Drosophila suzukii, at both constant and fluctuating regimes, as well as field acclimatization at various times of the year. We assessed cold tolerance and metabolomic profiles using targeted and untargeted tools. All acclimatory treatments promoted cold tolerance. Developmental acclimation and acclimatization produced comparable cold tolerance, exceeding that of adult acclimation. In acclimatized flies, cold tolerance rose progressively from September to December. Metabolomic profiles revealed shared cryoprotective compound accumulation, but also treatment-specific differences across acclimation and acclimatization treatments. Although constant laboratory acclimation is often assumed to fail to capture the intricacies of environmental variability and the associated phenotypic changes, our findings show that even this simple approach can serve as a robust predictor of D. suzukii’s thermal tolerance mediated by natural acclimatization, thereby validating a broad body of laboratory research conducted on Drosophila and other insects.
SN - 0962-8452
SN - 1471-2954
ER -