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DDT resistance, epistasis and male fitness in flies
Author(s) -
SMITH D. T.,
HOSKEN D. J.,
ROSTANT W. G.,
YEO M.,
GRIFFIN R. M.,
BRETMAN A.,
PRICE T. A. R.,
FFRENCHCONSTANT R. H.,
WEDELL N.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02271.x
Subject(s) - biology , epistasis , allele , pesticide , pesticide resistance , zoology , genetics , resistance (ecology) , drosophila melanogaster , ecology , gene
In Drosophila melanogaster , the DDT resistance allele (DDT‐R) is beneficial in the presence of DDT. Interestingly, DDT‐R also elevates female fitness in the absence of DDT and existed in populations before DDT use. However, DDT‐R did not spread regardless of DDT‐independent selective advantages in females. We ask whether sexual antagonism could explain why DDT‐R did not spread before pesticide use. We tested pre‐ and post‐copulatory male fitness correlates in two genetic backgrounds into which we backcrossed the DDT‐R allele. We found costs to DDT‐R that depended on the genetic background in which DDT‐R was found and documented strong epistasis between genetic background and DDT‐R that influenced male size. Although it remains unclear whether DDT‐R is generally sexually antagonistic, or whether the fitness costs noted would be sufficient to retard the spread of DDT‐R in the absence of DDT, general fitness advantages to DDT‐R in the absence of DDT may be unlikely.