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Title:
Molecular mechanisms and evolutionary processes of Batesian mimicry in Papilio butterflies

 

Haruhiko Fujiwara
Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo

 

Abstract:
Body coloration of animals is an ecologically important trait that is often involved in prey–predator interactions through mimicry. In a swallowtail butterfly, Papilio polytes, has two forms of females, but only mimetic-form females mimic the poisonous butterfly, Pachiliopta aristolochiae. This female-limited dimorphism is controlled by a single autosomal locus H which is suggested to be “supergene”, but the molecular background remains obscure. To explore the molecular mechanisms, we determined two whole genome sequences of P. polytes and its related species P. xuthus, which revealed a single long-autosomal inversion outside doublesex (dsx) between mimetic (H) and non-mimetic (h) chromosomes in P. polytes. The inversion was linked to the mimicry locus H identified by linkage mapping. The inverted region in H-chromosome included three genes, suggesting that the H locus comprises supergene. Novel knockdown experiments showed that only dsx from H-chromosome induced mimetic patterns but simultaneously repressed non-mimetic patterns on female wings. I also discuss the evolutionary process of female-limited Batesian mimicry in Papilio butterflies.

 

References:
Nishikawa H. et al. A genetic mechanism for female-limited Batesian mimicry in Papilio butterfly. Nat Genet 47: 405-409 (2015).