Describe the evidence that natural selection was at work, and what the prospects are for humans to hold our own in the evolutionary game. Rotten Fruit Cisco Bradley Rotten fruit is a thing encountered by all humans. One usually overlooks the decay of the fruit because it is such a common occurrence. Various sorts of microorganisms are responsible for the break down of fruit. Over millions of generations, natural selection has favored those microbes that could make the fruit objectionable or unusable to larger organisms.
Methods used by the microbes include toxins, antibiotics, and substrate degradation.
Once a fruit becomes ripe, many chemical defenses against microbes break down. Ripe fruit is heavier and therefore it falls to the ground more often. Abrasion often occurs when the fruit has contact with the ground. Animals are also much more interested in ripe fruit and small nibbles can penetrate the skin. Whatever the source, microbes soon enter the fruit and begin their work to render the fruit inedible.