Mycotoxin tolerance affects larval competitive ability in Drosophila recens (Diptera: Drosophilidae).

ABSTRACT: Certain mycophagous Drosophila species are the only known eukaryotes that can tolerate some highly potent mycotoxins. This association between mycophagy and mycotoxin tolerance is well established because Drosophila species that switch hosts from mushrooms to other food sources lose their mycotoxin tolerance trait without any evolutionary lag. These findings suggest that mycotoxin tolerance may be a costly trait to maintain. In this study, we attempted to identify whether mycotoxin tolerance has a fitness cost. Larval competitive ability is a vital fitness trait, especially in holometabolous insects, where the larvae cannot move to a new host. Furthermore, larval competitive ability is known to be associated with many critical life-history traits. Here we studied whether mycotoxin toleranc

SUBMITTER: Kokate PP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10281370 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature