Examining the associations between a generalist feeder and a highly toxic host
Data files
Feb 16, 2024 version files 58.56 KB
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Data_AdultSurvival.xlsx
9.47 KB
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Data_CompetitionTotal.xlsx
5.05 KB
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Data_CompetitionxMedia.xlsx
23.31 KB
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Data_LarvalPreference.xlsx
6.18 KB
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Data_OvipositionPreference.xlsx
9.04 KB
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README.md
5.51 KB
Abstract
Understanding the often antagonistic plant-herbivore interactions and how host defenses can influence herbivore dietary breadth is an area of ongoing study in ecology and evolutionary biology. Typically, host plants/fungi that produce highly noxious chemical defenses are only fed on by specialists. We know very little about generalist species that can feed and develop on a noxious host. One such example of generalists feeding on toxic host occurs in the mushroom-feeding Drosophila found in the immigrans-tripunctata radiation. Although these species are classified as generalists, their acceptable hosts include deadly Amanita species. In this study, we used behavioral assays to assess associations between one mushroom-feeding species, Drosophila guttifera, and the deadly Amanita phalloides. We conducted feeding assays to confirm the presence of cyclopeptide toxin tolerance. We then completed host preference assays in female flies and larvae and did not find a preference for toxic mushrooms in either. Finally, we assessed the effect of competition on oviposition preference. We found that the presence of a competitor’s eggs on the preferred host was associated with the flies increasing the number of eggs laid on the toxic mushrooms. Our results highlights how access to a low competition host resource may help to maintain associations between a generalist species and a highly toxic host.
README
Dataset and submission scripts for "Characterizing the impact and maintenance of specialized toxin tolerance in a generalist species"
GENERAL INFORMATION
Dates of data collection:
August 2021-December 2022
Keywords:
Plant-Insect Interactions, Host Preference, Competition, Drosophila guttifera, Cyclopeptides, Amanita
DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
General description:
This study examines how tolerance to a highly toxic host compound impacts the feeding behavior of a generalist fly species and how competition affects host preference. Data files are named based on the assay that generated them.
Data files:
- Data_AdultSurvival.xlsx: survival of individual Drosophila guttifera larvae from two unique genotypes on diets without toxin, a single toxin (alpha-amanitin), and a mix of cyclopeptide toxins coded as binary data (0=deceased, 1=survived to adult), exported from JMP software
- Data_OvipositionPreference.xlsx: oviposition preference data collected from two unique Drosophila guttifera genotypes where females were allowed to select among three media (edible mushroom, toxic mushroom, & tomato - negative control), exported from JMP software
- Data_LarvalPreference.xlsx: larval host medium preference collected for the Drosophila guttifera KD genotype, includes the change in mass of three media types, exported from JMP software
- Data_CompetitionTotal.xlsx: total number of eggs laid across all locations for the Drosophila guttifera KD genotype in the presence of no competition, intraspecific competition (D. guttifera TW), or interspecific competition (D. tripunctata), exported from JMP software
- Data_CompetitionxMedia.xlsx: breakdown of number of eggs laid at each media location across all replicates for the Drosophila guttifera KD genotype in the presence of no competition, intraspecific competition (D. guttifera TW), or interspecific competition (D. tripunctata), exported from JMP software
Scripts:
Data Scripts.txt: a commented text file containing scripts needed to run each analysis in JMP 16.0.0 (JMP is a GUI based interface but can output scripts used to complete each described analysis. These are the scripts from that output.)
Restrictions:
There are no restrictions or licenses on these data.
METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION
All methods are described in the manuscript.
Data are raw binomial representations of individual survival (AdultSurvival), unprocessed raw counts of eggs present and location, and raw changes in mass over a 96 hour time frame.
DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
File name: Data_AdultSurvival.xlsx
Variable list:
- Line = Unique genotype of Drosophila guttifera represented as either TW or KD based on the lab that provided the stock
- Rep = Specific replicate that the data point was collected in
- Treatment = Dietary treatment that a larvae was reared under (No Toxin, Alpha = alpha-amanitin, NTM = natural toxin mix)
- Ind_Surv = binomial data coding whether an individual larvae survived (1) or died (0) in a given replicate x treatment
File name: Data_OvipositionPreference.xlsx
Variable list:
- Line = Unique genotype of Drosophila guttifera represented as either Guttifera TW or Guttifera KD based on the lab that provided the stock
- Rep = Specific replicate that the data point was collected in
- Media = Oviposition media location; Edible = edible mushroom medium, Toxic = toxic mushroom media, Tomato = Negative Control made with tomato juice
- Eggs = Number of eggs that were recorded on a specific media for a given line and replicate
File name: Data_LarvalPreference.xlsx
Variable list:
- Rep = Specific replicate that the data point was collected in
- EggTotal = Number of eggs that were recorded on the plain media block for a given replicate
- Media = Media that was provided to the larvae and whose mass was taken; Edible = edible mushroom media, Toxic = toxic mushroom media, Plain = water agar where eggs were laid
- MassCh = Change in mass in milligrams 96 hours after the assay was begun
File name: Data_CompetitionTotal.xlsx
Variable list:
- Rep = Specific replicate that the data point was collected in
- Competition = type of competition that was present in a treatment; No Competition = no eggs laid on edible mushroom medium, Tripunctata = interspecific competition with eggs laid on edible mushroom medium by Drosophila tripunctata, Guttifera TW = intraspecific competition with eggs laid on edible mushroom medium by the TW Drosophila guttifera genotype
- EggNum = The total number of eggs that were recorded for a replicate across all locations
File name: Data_CompetitionxMedia.xlsx
Variable list:
- Rep = Specific replicate that the data point was collected in
- Competition = type of competition that was present in a treatment; No Competition = no eggs laid on edible mushroom medium, Tripunctata = interspecific competition with eggs laid on edible mushroom medium by Drosophila tripunctata, Guttifera TW = intraspecific competition with eggs laid on edible mushroom medium by the TW Drosophila guttifera genotype
- Media = Oviposition media location; Edible = edible mushroom medium, nr Edible = within 5mm of edible media disk, Toxic = toxic mushroom media, nr Toxic = within 5mm of toxic media disk, Tomato = Negative Control made with tomato juice, nr Tomato = within 5mm of tomato juice media disk, Plain = in the well where the female was placed at the beginning of the assay
- EggNum = Number of eggs recorded on a specific media for a specific replicate