A single amino acid polymorphism in natural Metchnikowin alleles of Drosophila results in systemic immunity and life history tradeoffs

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are at the interface of interactions between hosts and microbes and are therefore expected to be fast evolving in a coevolutionary arms race with pathogens. In contrast, previous work demonstrated that one AMP, Metchikowin (Mtk), has a single residue that segregates as either proline (P) or arginine (R) in populations of four different Drosophila species, some of which diverged more than 10 million years ago. The recurrent finding of this polymorphism regardless of geography or host species, coupled with evidence of balancing selection in Drosophila AMPs, suggest there is a distinct functional importance to each allele. The most likely hypotheses involve alleles having specificity to different pathogens or the more potent allele conferring a cost on the host. To assess their functional differences, we created D. melanogaster lines with the P allele, R allele, or Mtk null mutation using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. Here, we report results from experiments ass..., Datasets were collected from laboratory infection and life history experiments performed from 2020-2023 at the University of Kansas. Data was processed (graphics and statistics) using R/RStudio. Details are provided in the README file.
Datasets Included

Data from life history and longevity of Drosophila melanogaster with various Metchnikowin genotypes and R code used to analyze data

Egg lay numbers from single females
Egg hatch rates from single females
Larval-to-pupal survival rates
Pupal-to-adult survival rates
Adult sex ratios
Adult longevity

Infection data from Drosophila melanogaster with various Metchnikowin genotypes and R code used to analyze data

Male and female survival rates from infections with various pathogens over time

Pathogen load data from Drosophila melanogaster with various Metchnikowin genotypes and R code used to analyze data

CFU/mL of various pathogens from male flies after 24 h infection

Infection data from Drosophila melanogaster with various dnaK geno..., , This version of the README file was generated on 07-22-24 by Jessamyn Perlmutter.

## General Information

1. Title of Dataset: A single amino acid polymorphism in natural Metchnikowin alleles of *Drosophila* results in systemic immunity and life history tradeoffs
2. Author Information:
1. Principal investigator contact information

Name: Robert Unckless

Institution: University of Kansas

Address: Lawrence, KS, USA

Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])
2. First author contact information

Name: Jessamyn Perlmutter

Institution: University of Kansas

Address: Lawrence, KS, USA

Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])
3. Dates of data collection: 2020-2023
4. Location of data collection: University of Kansas, Lawrence
5. Funding sources that supported the collection of the data: NIH R01 AI139154, P30 GM110761, K-INBRE P20 GM103418, NSF DBI 2109772
6. General description of data from this da...