Genes for host-plant selection in Drosophila

Interactions between herbivorous insects and their host plants are rich in diversity. How such interactions evolved has been a central issue in ecology. A series of analyses on an example of host-plant adaptation in a Drosophila species suggest that neurogenetics can be a powerful tool for understanding how insects' ability to select a specific host plant has evolved. Drosophila sechellia is a specialist species that exclusively reproduces on the ripe fruit of Morinda citrifolia, which is toxic to other Drosophila species, including D. melanogaster and D. simulans, which are phylogenetically close to D. sechellia. Genetic analyses have revealed that multiple loci are involved in the physiological and behavioral adaptations of D. sechellia to the Morinda fruit. The behavioral adaptation includes the loss of avoidance of the host toxin and the enhanced sensitivity to the host odor. Two odorant-binding protein genes, Obp57d and Obp57e, are involved in the perception of the host toxin. D. sechellia has lost several putative bitter-taste receptor genes, which might also be involved in the loss of avoidance of the host toxin. The available genetic data support an evolutionary scenario, in which the shift in the host-plant selection was not achieved by the acquisition of novel abilities, but by the loss of already existing abilities. It is also suggested that the size of chemosensory gene families has a potential to be an index of complexity in insect-environment interaction, providing an opportunity to reexamine the longstanding "specialization as an evolutionary dead end" hypothesis.