%0 Journal Article
%T Drosophila melanogaster Selection for Survival of Bacillus cereus Infection: Life History Trait Indirect Responses
%A Junjie Ma
%A Andrew K. Benson
%A Stephen D. Kachman
%A Zhen Hu
%A Lawrence G. Harshman
%J International Journal of Evolutionary Biology
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/935970
%X To study evolved resistance/tolerance in an insect model, we carried out an experimental evolution study using D. melanogaster and the opportunistic pathogen B. cereus as the agent of selection. The selected lines evolved a 3.0- to 3.3-log increase in the concentration of spores required for 50% mortality after 18¨C24 generations of selection. In the absence of any treatment, selected lines evolved an increase in egg production and delayed development time. The latter response could be interpreted as a cost of evolution. Alternatively, delayed development might have been a target of selection resulting in increased adult fat body function including production of antimicrobial peptides, and, incidentally, yolk production for oocytes and eggs. When treated with autoclaved spores, the egg production difference between selected and control lines was abolished, and this response was consistent with the hypothesis of a cost of an induced immune response. Treatment with autoclaved spores also reduced life span in some cases and elicited early-age mortality in the selected and wound-control lines both of which were consistent with the hypothesis of a cost associated with induction of immune responses. In general, assays on egg production yielded key outcomes including the negative effect of autoclaved spores on egg production. 1. Introduction Genetic selection in the laboratory provides a powerful tool for evolutionary analysis of complex traits [1]. It has been used to study many phenomena at different levels of biological organization including life histories, physiology, demography and population dynamics, behavior, form, sex, whole-genome evolution, altruism, and speciation [2]. Selection results in amplification of genetic differences between selected and control lines which is the basis of phenotypic differentiation. Often, correlated (indirect) responses to selection are of particular interest in these experiments as they can suggest tradeoffs between traits. For example, selection for increased D. melanogaster life span and late-age reproduction resulted in decreased early-age reproduction [3, 4]. The nature of tradeoffs between traits is an important topic in life history evolution [5]. In the present study, the insect model D. melanogaster has been used in selection experiments for increased survival after bacterial infection. A previous study of responses in a laboratory selection experiment using Pseudomonas aeruginosa has examined the impact of D. melanogaster resistance on life history traits [6]. This study showed considerable costs in life span
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijeb/2012/935970/