Is there more than one way to skin a newt? Convergent toxin resistance in snakes is not due to a common genetic mechanism.

Abstract

Convergent evolution of tetrodotoxin (TTX) resistance, at both the phenotypic and genetic levels, characterizes coevolutionary arms races between amphibians and their snake predators around the world, and reveals remarkable predictability in the process of adaptation. Here we examine the repeatability of the evolution of TTX resistance in an undescribed predator-prey relationship between TTX-bearing Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) and Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes (Heterodon platirhinos). We found that that local newts contain levels of TTX dangerous enough to dissuade most predators, and that Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes within newt range are highly resistant to TTX. In fact, these populations of Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes are so resistant to TTX that the potential for current reciprocal selection might be limited. Unlike all other cases of TTX resistance in vertebrates, H. platirhinos lacks the adaptive amino acid substitutions in the skeletal muscle sodium channel that reduce TTX binding, suggesting that physiological resistance in Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes is conferred by an alternate genetic mechanism. Thus, phenotypic convergence in this case is not due to parallel molecular evolution, indicating that there may be more than one way for this adaptation to arise, even among closely related species.