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Butterfly genome reveals promiscuous exchange of mimicry adaptations among species
Ist Teil von
Nature (London), 2012-07, Vol.487 (7405), p.94-98
Ort / Verlag
London: Nature Publishing Group UK
Erscheinungsjahr
2012
Quelle
Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Sequencing of the genome of the butterfly
Heliconius melpomene
shows that closely related
Heliconius
species exchange protective colour-pattern genes promiscuously.
Heliconius
butterfly genome sequenced
Heliconius
butterflies are an excellent system in which to study ecology, behaviour, mimicry and speciation. The genome of the postman butterfly
Heliconius melpomene
has now been sequenced. Using genomic resequencing of individuals from distinct lineages, the authors document heterogenous patterns of genomic diversity associated with adaptively divergent wing-colour patterns. As the second lepidopteran genome to be sequenced,
Heliconius
offers novel opportunities for comparative genomics within this economically significant insect order, which includes many pest species, as well as the only domesticated insect, the silkmoth
Bombyx mori
.
The evolutionary importance of hybridization and introgression has long been debated
1
. Hybrids are usually rare and unfit, but even infrequent hybridization can aid adaptation by transferring beneficial traits between species. Here we use genomic tools to investigate introgression in
Heliconius
, a rapidly radiating genus of neotropical butterflies widely used in studies of ecology, behaviour, mimicry and speciation
2
,
3
,
4
,
5
. We sequenced the genome of
Heliconius melpomene
and compared it with other taxa to investigate chromosomal evolution in Lepidoptera and gene flow among multiple
Heliconius
species and races. Among 12,669 predicted genes, biologically important expansions of families of chemosensory and
Hox
genes are particularly noteworthy. Chromosomal organization has remained broadly conserved since the Cretaceous period, when butterflies split from the
Bombyx
(silkmoth) lineage. Using genomic resequencing, we show hybrid exchange of genes between three co-mimics,
Heliconius melpomene
,
Heliconius timareta
and
Heliconius elevatus
, especially at two genomic regions that control mimicry pattern. We infer that closely related
Heliconius
species exchange protective colour-pattern genes promiscuously, implying that hybridization has an important role in adaptive radiation.