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Parallel and costly changes to cellular immunity underlie the evolution of parasitoid resistance in three Drosophila species.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Leitão, Alexandre B  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9004-1831
Ommeslag, Sarah 
Smith, Sophie 
Day, Jonathan P 

Abstract

A priority for biomedical research is to understand the causes of variation in susceptibility to infection. To investigate genetic variation in a model system, we used flies collected from single populations of three different species of Drosophila and artificially selected them for resistance to the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi, and found that survival rates increased 3 to 30 fold within 6 generations. Resistance in all three species involves a large increase in the number of the circulating hemocytes that kill parasitoids. However, the different species achieve this in different ways, with D. melanogaster moving sessile hemocytes into circulation while the other species simply produce more cells. Therefore, the convergent evolution of the immune phenotype has different developmental bases. These changes are costly, as resistant populations of all three species had greatly reduced larval survival. In all three species resistance is only costly when food is in short supply, and resistance was rapidly lost from D. melanogaster populations when food is restricted. Furthermore, evolving resistance to L. boulardi resulted in cross-resistance against other parasitoids. Therefore, whether a population evolves resistance will depend on ecological conditions including food availability and the presence of different parasite species.

Description

Keywords

Animals, Biological Evolution, Disease Resistance, Drosophila, Immunity, Cellular, Species Specificity, Wasps

Journal Title

PLoS Pathog

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1553-7366
1553-7374

Volume Title

13

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Sponsorship
European Research Council (281668)
Natural Environment Research Council (NE/P00184X/1)