Title | Butterfly genome reveals promiscuous exchange of mimicry adaptations among species. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2012 |
Corporate Authors | Heliconius Genome Consortium |
Journal | Nature |
Volume | 487 |
Issue | 7405 |
Pagination | 94-8 |
Date Published | 2012 Jul 05 |
ISSN | 1476-4687 |
Keywords | Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Bombyx, Butterflies, Chromosomes, Insect, Evolution, Molecular, Gene Flow, Genes, Homeobox, Genes, Insect, Genome, Insect, Genomics, Hybridization, Genetic, Molecular Mimicry, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, Pigmentation, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Species Specificity, Synteny, Wings, Animal |
Abstract | The evolutionary importance of hybridization and introgression has long been debated. 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. 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. |
DOI | 10.1038/nature11041 |
Alternate Journal | Nature |
PubMed ID | 22722851 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC3398145 |
Grant List | R01 HG006677 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States BB/E006191/1 / BB_ / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council / United Kingdom BB/H014268/1 / BB_ / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council / United Kingdom BB/G006903/1 / BB_ / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council / United Kingdom R01 HG006102 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States U54 HG003273 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States T32 HD060555 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States BB/H01439X/1 / BB_ / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council / United Kingdom G0900740 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom BB/G00661X/1 / BB_ / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council / United Kingdom BB/H014357/1 / BB_ / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council / United Kingdom R01 GM083873 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States |
Butterfly genome reveals promiscuous exchange of mimicry adaptations among species.
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