Evolution in Toxin-Stressed Environments

Here we briefly consider how organisms may evolve in toxin-stressed environments, and illustrate our ideas with data from our work on Sitophilus oryzae (L.), the rice weevil. This animal was selected for study as a model organism because of its short generation time (c 6 weeks), the ease with which its natural environment (stored seeds) can be replicated in the laboratory, and for ease of culture and environmental control. We begin by considering what happens in a constant environment containing low levels of toxins, and then proceed to consider the evolutionary changes that occur in response to the introduction of further toxins. Thus these two environments differ in toxin content.