How to translate text using browser tools
1 June 2007 COSTS OF RESISTANCE IN THE DROSOPHILA–MACROCHELES SYSTEM: A NEGATIVE GENETIC CORRELATION BETWEEN ECTOPARASITE RESISTANCE AND REPRODUCTION
Lien T. Luong, Michal Polak
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Genetic variation for parasite resistance occurs in most host populations. Costs of resistance, manifested as reduced fitness of resistant genotypes in the absence of parasitism, can be an important factor contributing to the maintenance of this variation. One powerful tool for detecting costs of resistance is the study of correlated responses to artificial selection. Provided that experimental lines are recently derived from large outbreeding populations, and that inbreeding is minimized during the experiment, correlated responses to selection are expected to be strong indicators of pleiotropy. We artificially selected for elevated behavioral resistance against an ectoparasitic mite (Macrocheles subbadius) in replicate populations of the fly Drosophila nigrospiracula. Resistance was modeled as a threshold trait, and the realized heritability of resistance was estimated to be 12.3% (1.4% SE) across three replicate lines recently derived from nature. We contrasted the longevity and fecundity of resistant and control (unselected) flies under a variable thermal environment. We report that reduced fecundity is a correlated response to artificial selection for increased resistance, and that the strength of this effect increases from 25° to 29°C. In contrast, longevity differences were not detected between resistant and control lines at either temperature. These findings are robust as they were confirmed with an independent set of experimental lines. Thus, our results identify a negative genetic correlation between ectoparasite resistance and an important life-history trait. That a correlated response was only detected for fecundity, and not longevity, suggests that the genetic correlation is attributable to pleiotropic effects with narrower effects than reallocation of a general resource pool within the organism, although other interpretations are discussed. Combined with fluctuating parasite-mediated selection and temperature, the presence of this trade-off may contribute to the maintenance of genetic variation for resistance in natural populations.

Lien T. Luong and Michal Polak "COSTS OF RESISTANCE IN THE DROSOPHILA–MACROCHELES SYSTEM: A NEGATIVE GENETIC CORRELATION BETWEEN ECTOPARASITE RESISTANCE AND REPRODUCTION," Evolution 61(6), 1391-1402, (1 June 2007). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00116.x
Received: 3 November 2006; Accepted: 2 February 2007; Published: 1 June 2007
JOURNAL ARTICLE
12 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
Drosophila
ectoparasitism
fecundity costs
genetic variation
host behavior
Macrocheles mites
negative genetic correlation
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top