Tolerance of Drosophila Flies to Ibotenic Acid Poisons in Mushrooms.

Abstract??The mushroom genusAmanitahas a spectrum of chemical compounds affecting survival and performance of animals. Ibotenic acid is one of such compounds found in someAmanitamushrooms. We studied the effects of ibotenic acid and its derivative, muscimol, on egg-to-pupa survival, pupation time, and pupal size in fiveDrosophilaspecies (Diptera: Drosophilidae),Drosophila bizonata,Drosophila angularis,Drosophila brachynephros,Drosophila immigrans, andDrosophila melanogaster. The first three species are mycophagous and use a wide range of mushrooms for breeding, whereasD. immigransandD. melanogasterare frugivorous. We reared fly larvae on artificial medium with 500, 250, 125, and 62.5??g/ml of ibotenic acid and/or musimol. The three mycophagous species were not susceptible to ibotenic acid, whereas the two frugivorous species were affected. In experiments withD. melanogaster, muscimol was less toxic than ibotenic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]