Ecological niche difference associated with varied ethanol tolerance between Drosophila suzukii and Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae)
Keywords:
niches, Drosophila, alcohol, ADH, ALDHAbstract
Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosphilidae) is an important pest that causes damage to fruits of over 60 plant species. Drosophila suzukii oviposits on ripe fruit, while D. melanogaster oviposits on decaying fruit. Therefore, these species occupy separate ecological niches. To provide a better understanding of the alcohol tolerance between these 2 species and explore the relationship of ecological niche differences and alcohol tolerance, ethanol and acetaldehyde content was examined in red grapes infested by D. melanogaster and D. suzukii. We assessed mortality and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity levels for 2 Drosophila species exposed to ethanol. The study results showed that ethanol content gradually increased as the fruit decayed while being infested by Drosophila. The ethanol content was higher in the presence of D. melanogaster than in the presence of D. suzukii. In the mortality experiment, the LC50 of D. melanogaster adults was approximately 8.0% following exposure to ethanol for more than 6 h, while it was only 2.7% in D. suzukii. Moreover, D. melanogaster adults and larvae all had higher ADH and ALDH activity than D. suzukii exposed to ethanol. Our results suggest that D. melanogaster and D. suzukii may occupy different ecological niches due to their discrepancy in tolerance to environmental ethanol, which is mainlyregulated by ADH and ALDH.
Resumo
Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) es una plaga importante que causa daño a las frutas de más de 60 especies de plantas que oviposita en fruta madura, mientras que D. melanogaster oviposita en fruta en descomposición. Por lo tanto, estas especies ocupan nichos ecológicos separados. Con el fin de proveer una mejor comprensión de la tolerancia al alcohol entre estas dos especies y explorar la relación de las diferencias del nicho ecológico y la tolerancia al alcohol, se examinó el etanol y el contenido de acetaldehído en uvas tintas infestadas por D. melanogaster y D. suzukii. Se evaluaron los niveles de actividad de la mortalidad y alcohol deshidrogenasa (ADH) y acetaldehído deshidrogenasa (ALDH) para dos especies de Drosophila expuestas al etanol. Los resultados del estudio mostraron que el contenido de etanol aumentó gradualmente a medida que el fruto decayó mientras se infestaba con Drosophila. El contenido de etanol fue mayor en presencia de D. melanogaster que en presencia de D. suzukii. En el experimento aproximadamente el 8,0% después de la exposición al etanol durante más de 6,0 los adultos y las larvas de D. melanogaster tuvieron una actividad ADH y ALDH más alta que D. suzukii expuestas al etanol. Nuestros resultados sugieren que D. melanogaster y D. suzukii pueden ocupar diferentes nichos ecológicos debido a su discrepancia en la tolerancia al etanol ambiental, el cual está reguladoprincipalmente por ADH y ALDH.
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