The Mechanisms Underlying α-Amanitin Resistance in Drosophila melanogaster: A Microarray Analysis

The rapid evolution of toxin resistance in animals has important consequences for the ecology of species and our economy. Pesticide resistance in insects has been a subject of intensive study; however, very little is known about how Drosophila species became resistant to natural toxins with ecological relevance, such as alpha-amanitin that is produced in deadly poisonous mushrooms. Here we performed a microarray study to elucidate the genes, chromosomal loci, molecular functions, biological processes, and cellular components that contribute to the alpha-amanitin resistance phenotype in Drosophila melanogaster. We suggest that toxin entry blockage through the cuticle, phase I and II detoxification, sequestration in lipid particles, and proteolytic cleavage of alpha-amanitin contribute in concert to this quantitative trait. We speculate that the resistance to mushroom toxins in D. melanogaster and perhaps in mycophagous Drosophila species has evolved as cross-resistance to pesticides, other xenobiotic substances, or environmental stress factors.