Natural selection has driven the recurrent loss of an immunity gene that protects Drosophila against a major natural parasite.

ABSTRACT: Polymorphisms in immunity genes can have large effects on susceptibility to infection. To understand the origins of this variation, we have investigated the genetic basis of resistance to the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi in Drosophila melanogaster. We found that increased expression of the gene lectin-24A after infection by parasitic wasps was associated with a faster cellular immune response and greatly increased rates of killing the parasite. lectin-24A encodes a protein that is strongly up-regulated in the fat body after infection and localizes to the surface of the parasite egg. In certain susceptible lines, a deletion upstream of the lectin-24A has largely abolished expression. Other mutations predicted to abolish the function of this gene ha

SUBMITTER: Arunkumar R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10438844 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature