A single amino acid polymorphism in natural Metchnikowin alleles of Drosophila results in systemic immunity and life history tradeoffs.

ABSTRACT: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are at the interface of interactions between hosts and microbes and are therefore expected to be fast evolving in a coevolutionary arms race with pathogens. In contrast, previous work demonstrated that one AMP, Metchikowin (Mtk), has a single residue that segregates as either proline (P) or arginine (R) in populations of four different Drosophila species, some of which diverged more than 10 million years ago. The recurrent finding of this polymorphism regardless of geography or host species, coupled with evidence of balancing selection in Drosophila AMPs, suggest there is a distinct functional importance to each allele. The most likely hypotheses involve alleles having specificity to different pathogens or the more potent allele conferring a cost

SUBMITTER: Perlmutter JI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9882182 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature