Human activities impact the natural environment in many ways, including by modifying landscape and seascape, increasing pollution, and contributing to global warming. Stress is a non-specific response of the organisms to biotic and abiotic environmental changes such as temperature, climate factors and chemical compounds. Stress conditions induce in animals a complex physiological response occurring at neuroendocrine, physiological and behavioural levels that may also have consequences at population level. Adverse environmental conditions may cause long-term effects on genome stability, leading to heritable alterations in genome structure. Over the last decade, it has become evident that some stress conditions and other environmental stimuli can induce the expression and the activity of transposable elements (TEs). As their name suggests, TEs are DNA repetitive sequences having the capability to move from one location to another in the genome. In this project, the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster (Dm) will be used as model species for evaluating the effects of environmental stress factors on TEs expression and mobility. Dm is a particularly suitable model as it combines genetic amenability, low cost and compatible culture conditions with large-scale screenings. Beyond temperature, a type of environmental stressor due to human activity will be tested. Results will give insights on the capability of the environmental stress to act as an evolutionary force triggering genetic variability and animal adaptation. Data will also help to appreciate the effects of TEs expression on human health.
