The genetic architecture of insecticide resistance within a natural population of <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>

Abstract

The dynamics of genetic variation in susceptibility to insecticides within a natural population of <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> (Meigen) at Katsunuma (Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan) was examined. Two resistance factors for three organophosphate insecticides (OPs), a resistant-type acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (cytochrome P450), have already been suggested to be involved within the Katsunuma population. In this study, genetic variances were estimated for susceptibility to other classes of chemicals than OPs, permethrin (a pyrethroid) and dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT; an organo-chlorine), which existed simultaneously with genetic variances for susceptibility to OPs. Analyses of variance for susceptibility to permethrin and DDT showed highly significant variation among isofemale lines from the Katsunuma population, and the genetic variances for susceptibility to each insecticide fluctuated differently during this period. The impacts of fluctuations of genetic variation in susceptibility to one class of insecticides on genetic variation in susceptibility to other classes of insecticides existing simultaneously within the natural population were discussed

The secret lives of Drosophila flies

“…Various other Drosophila species have specialized on resources (such as cacti or Morinda fruit) that contain a range of allelochemicals, or secondary metabolites, many of which are toxic to other organisms and thus serve as defense against herbivory. The genetic bases of these specializations, as they relate to phenomena such as the evolution of pesticide resistance ( McDonnell et al, 2012 ; Miyo, 2012 ) and detoxification ( Gloss et al, 2014 ; Mitchell et al, 2014 ), are already being investigated through comparative genomics.…”