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The genetic basis of larval resistance to a host plant toxin in Drosophila sechellia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2002

CORBIN D. JONES
CORBIN D. JONES
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA Current address: Evolution and Ecology #1080, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. e-mail: cojo@ucdavis.edu

Abstract

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The larvae of Drosophila sechellia are highly resistant to octanoic acid, a toxin found in D. sechellia's host plant, Morinda citrifolia. In contrast, close relatives of D. sechellia, D. simulans and D. melanogaster, are not resistant. In a series of interspecific backcrosses, 11 genetic markers were used to map factors affecting egg-to-adult (‘larval’) resistance in D. sechellia. The third chromosome harbours at least one partially dominant resistance factor. The second chromosome carries at least two mostly dominant resistance factors but no recessive factors. However, neither the X chromosome – which contains 20% of D. sechellia's genome – nor the fourth chromosome appear to affect resistance. These data suggest that larval resistance to Morinda toxin may involve only a handful of genes. These results, when compared with a previous analysis of adult resistance to Morinda toxin in D. sechellia, suggest that larval resistance may involve a subset of the genes underlying adult resistance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Genetics Research , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , December 2001 , pp. 225 - 233
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press