ArticleMolecular biology and evolution2014
Evolution in an ancient detoxification pathway is coupled with a transition to herbivory in the drosophilidae.
Article in Molecular biology and evolution, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers.
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 111 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intersecting experimental evolution and CRISPR screens to identify novel toxin resistance loci.eLife · 2026Article
- Genome-wide association studies identify new candidate genes and tissues underlying resistance to a natural toxin in drosophilids.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Large-scale Genome Analyses Provide Insights into Hymenoptera Evolution.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Odorant Receptors Mediating Avoidance of Toxic Mustard Oils in Drosophila melanogaster Are Expanded in Herbivorous Relatives.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- The shape of discovery: a journey through genetics, coevolution, and a scientific life.Genetics · 2025Article
- Multiple glutathione-S-transferases detoxify diverse glucosinolate-based defenses of Brassicales plants in a generalist lepidopteran herbivore (Spodoptera littoralis).Communications biology · 2025Article
- Alternative Splicing in TRPA1 Drives Sensory Adaptation to Electrophiles in Drosophilids.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Preference for and resistance to a toxic sulfur volatile opens up a unique niche in Drosophila busckii.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Accessible versatility underpins the deep evolution of plant specialized metabolism.Phytochemistry reviews : proceedings of the Phytochemical Society of Europe · 2025Review
- Insights into the evolution of herbivory from a leaf-mining fly.Ecosphere (Washington, D.C) · 2024Article
- Metabolism of plant-derived toxins from its insect host increases the success of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana.The ISME journal · 2023Article
- Evolution of chemosensory and detoxification gene families across herbivorous Drosophilidae.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2023Article
- Evolution of chemosensory and detoxification gene families across herbivorous Drosophilidae.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Role of Insect and Mammal Glutathione Transferases in Chemoperception.Biomolecules · 2023Review
- Evolution and genomic basis of the plant-penetrating ovipositor: a key morphological trait in herbivorous Drosophilidae.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Trans-driven variation in expression is common among detoxification genes in the extreme generalist herbivore Tetranychus urticae.PLoS genetics · 2022Article
- Induced Resistance Combined with RNA Interference Attenuates the Counteradaptation of the Western Flower Thrips.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- β-Cyanoalanine synthase protects mites against Arabidopsis defenses.Plant physiology · 2022Article
- Transcriptional responses are oriented towards different components of the rearing environment in two Drosophila sibling species.BMC genomics · 2022Article
- Unique metabolism of different glucosinolates in larvae and adults of a leaf beetle specialised on Brassicaceae.Scientific reports · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Chemically defended plant tissues present formidable barriers to herbivores. Although mechanisms to resist plant defenses have been identified in ancient herbivorous lineages, adaptations to overcome plant defenses during transitions to herbivory remain relatively unexplored. The fly genus Scaptomyza is nested within the genus Drosophila and includes species that feed on the living tissue of mustard plants (Brassicaceae), yet this lineage is derived from microbe-feeding ancestors. We found that mustard-feeding Scaptomyza species and microbe-feeding Drosophila melanogaster detoxify mustard oils, the primary chemical defenses in the Brassicaceae, using the widely conserved mercapturic acid pathway. This detoxification strategy differs from other specialist herbivores of mustard plants, which possess derived mechanisms to obviate mustard oil formation. To investigate whether mustard feeding is coupled with evolution in the mercapturic acid pathway, we profiled functional and molecular evolutionary changes in the enzyme glutathione S-transferase D1 (GSTD1), which catalyzes the first step of the mercapturic acid pathway and is induced by mustard defense products in Scaptomyza. GSTD1 acquired elevated activity against mustard oils in one mustard-feeding Scaptomyza species in which GstD1 was duplicated. Structural analysis and mutagenesis revealed that substitutions at conserved residues within and near the substrate-binding cleft account for most of this increase in activity against mustard oils. Functional evolution of GSTD1 was coupled with signatures of episodic positive selection in GstD1 after the evolution of herbivory. Overall, we found that preexisting functions of generalized detoxification systems, and their refinement by natural selection, could play a central role in the evolution of herbivory.
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