Natural variation in Drosophila stressed locomotion meets or exceeds variation caused by hsp70 mutation: analysis of behavior and performance.

Thermotolerance involves more than life or death. Investigating the complexity of this trait will aid identification of its genetic contributors. We examined variation in thermally stressed walking behavior and performance in natural Drosophila melanogaster strains and strains mutant for the heat shock protein Hsp70, to determine which aspects of locomotion are affected by heat shock and genotype.