Long-Term Resistance of Drosophila melanogaster to the Mushroom Toxin Alpha-Amanitin. 2015

Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, United States of America.

Insect resistance to toxins exerts not only a great impact on our economy, but also on the ecology of many species. Resistance to one toxin is often associated with cross-resistance to other, sometimes unrelated, chemicals. In this study, we investigated mushroom toxin resistance in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen). This fruit fly species does not feed on mushrooms in nature and may thus have evolved cross-resistance to α-amanitin, the principal toxin of deadly poisonous mushrooms, due to previous pesticide exposure. The three Asian D. melanogaster stocks used in this study, Ama-KTT, Ama-MI, and Ama-KLM, acquired α-amanitin resistance at least five decades ago in their natural habitats in Taiwan, India, and Malaysia, respectively. Here we show that all three stocks have not lost the resistance phenotype despite the absence of selective pressure over the past half century. In response to α-amanitin in the larval food, several signs of developmental retardation become apparent in a concentration-dependent manner: higher pre-adult mortality, prolonged larva-to-adult developmental time, decreased adult body size, and reduced adult longevity. In contrast, female fecundity nearly doubles in response to higher α-amanitin concentrations. Our results suggest that α-amanitin resistance has no fitness cost, which could explain why the resistance has persisted in all three stocks over the past five decades. If pesticides caused α-amanitin resistance in D. melanogaster, their use may go far beyond their intended effects and have long-lasting effects on ecosystems.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007194 India A country in southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan. The capitol is New Delhi. Republic of India
D007814 Larva Wormlike or grublike stage, following the egg in the life cycle of insects, worms, and other metamorphosing animals. Maggots,Tadpoles,Larvae,Maggot,Tadpole
D008296 Malaysia A parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch in southeast Asia, consisting of 11 states (West Malaysia) on the Malay Peninsula and two states (East Malaysia) on the island of BORNEO. It is also called the Federation of Malaysia. Its capital is Kuala Lumpur. Before 1963 it was the Union of Malaya. It reorganized in 1948 as the Federation of Malaya, becoming independent from British Malaya in 1957 and becoming Malaysia in 1963 as a federation of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore (which seceded in 1965). The form Malay- probably derives from the Tamil malay, mountain, with reference to its geography. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p715 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p329) Federation of Malaya,Malay Federation,Malay Peninsula,Malaya,Malaya Federation,Sabah,Sarawak
D008297 Male Males
D009145 Mushroom Poisoning Poisoning from ingestion of mushrooms, primarily from, but not restricted to, toxic varieties. Poisoning, Mushroom,Mushroom Poisonings,Poisonings, Mushroom
D009183 Mycotoxins Toxic compounds produced by FUNGI. Fungal Toxins,Mycotoxin,Toxins, Fungal
D010641 Phenotype The outward appearance of the individual. It is the product of interactions between genes, and between the GENOTYPE and the environment. Phenotypes
D004331 Drosophila melanogaster A species of fruit fly frequently used in genetics because of the large size of its chromosomes. D. melanogaster,Drosophila melanogasters,melanogaster, Drosophila
D005260 Female Females
D000363 Agaricales An extensive order of basidiomycetous fungi whose fruiting bodies are commonly called mushrooms. Agaricaceae,Mushrooms,Agaricale,Mushroom

Related Publications

Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
January 1982, Canadian journal of genetics and cytology. Journal canadien de genetique et de cytologie,
Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
August 2000, Heredity,
Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
December 2006, Peptides,
Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
January 1977, Current problems in clinical biochemistry,
Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
February 1977, Journal of the American Chemical Society,
Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
January 2014, PloS one,
Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
May 2018, Journal of the American Chemical Society,
Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
January 2017, PloS one,
Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
February 2004, Archives of toxicology,
Chelsea L Mitchell, and Roger D Yeager, and Zachary J Johnson, and Stephanie E D'Annunzio, and Kara R Vogel, and Thomas Werner
December 1999, Neuron,
Copied contents to your clipboard!