Genetic Covariation Between Effectiveness And Cost Of Defence In Aphids

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Genetics
Article Date: 04 Sep 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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Why are not all hosts resistant to their parasites? Possibly, because the necessary defences are costly. Evolutionary biologists distinguish between long-term, evolutionary costs of possessing defences against parasites, and the short-term costs of using them.

Yet they typically focus on the former in the search for constraints on the evolution of resistance. This article shows that short-term costs may be of equal evolutionary importance. In the aphid Myzus persicae, survivors of more resistant clones suffered a higher reduction of fecundity upon parasitoid attack than survivors of more susceptible clones.

This trade-off between benefits and costs of defence may help explain the maintenance of genetic variation for resistance.

Royal Society journal Biology Letters

Biology Letters publishes short, innovative and cutting-edge research articles and opinion pieces accessible to scientists from across the biological sciences. The journal is characterised by stringent peer-review, rapid publication and broad dissemination of succinct high-quality research communications.

Biology Letters