Generality of toxins in defensive symbiosis: Ribosome-inactivating proteins and defense against parasitic wasps in Drosophila
Fig 5
The ectoparasitic wasp Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae successfully develops in Spiroplasma-positive Drosophila melanogaster and does not show evidence of RIP attack.
Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae (Pv) successfully parasitizes Spiroplasma-positive D. melanogaster (A). Neither fly nor wasp emergence was significantly affected by the presence of Spiroplasma (p ≥ .5). The proportion of depurinated ribosomes is much less than what is seen in Leptopilina species (p < .001; B). There is no difference in the level of intact P. vindemmiae ribosomes in sMel-positive flies compared to levels in sMel-negative flies (p = .778). Levels of depurinated ribosomes in sMel-positive flies are modestly, albeit significantly, greater than in sMel-negative flies (p = .004; C). Twelve sMel-positive and nine sMel-negative fly pupae were tested for RIP activity and jitter points are the mean of two technical replicates per wasp-infested larva. Significant comparisons from Tukey post hoc tests are labeled above boxplots.