These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: A genetic mechanism for female-limited Batesian mimicry in Papilio butterfly.
    Author: Nishikawa H, Iijima T, Kajitani R, Yamaguchi J, Ando T, Suzuki Y, Sugano S, Fujiyama A, Kosugi S, Hirakawa H, Tabata S, Ozaki K, Morimoto H, Ihara K, Obara M, Hori H, Itoh T, Fujiwara H.
    Journal: Nat Genet; 2015 Apr; 47(4):405-9. PubMed ID: 25751626.
    Abstract:
    In Batesian mimicry, animals avoid predation by resembling distasteful models. In the swallowtail butterfly Papilio polytes, only mimetic-form females resemble the unpalatable butterfly Pachliopta aristolochiae. A recent report showed that a single gene, doublesex (dsx), controls this mimicry; however, the detailed molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here we determined two whole-genome sequences of P. polytes and a related species, Papilio xuthus, identifying a single ∼130-kb autosomal inversion, including dsx, between mimetic (H-type) and non-mimetic (h-type) chromosomes in P. polytes. This inversion is associated with the mimicry-related locus H, as identified by linkage mapping. Knockdown experiments demonstrated that female-specific dsx isoforms expressed from the inverted H allele (dsx(H)) induce mimetic coloration patterns and simultaneously repress non-mimetic patterns. In contrast, dsx(h) does not alter mimetic patterns. We propose that dsx(H) switches the coloration of predetermined wing patterns and that female-limited polymorphism is tightly maintained by chromosomal inversion.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]