[HELICONIUS] Butterfly genome reveals promiscuous exchange of mimicry adaptations among species - Nature.com

[Jim Mallet]

The Heliconius genome paper, with evidence for colour patterns being 
exchanged among multiple species, is out at last!

See:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11041.html

Summary:
The evolutionary importance of hybridization and introgression has long 
been debated^1 
<http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11041.html#ref1> 
. 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 
<http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11041.html#ref2>,3 
<http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11041.html#ref3>,4 
<http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11041.html#ref4>,5 
<http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11041.html#ref5> 
. 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.

A selection of press releases

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/May2012/12-516-butterfly-genome-reveals-promiscuous-past
http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/butterfly-genome-reveals-a-promiscuous-past/
http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Information/News/press-releases/research-highlight-160512_butterfly_genome.html
http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/all-news/160512-butterfly
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/27700

http://www.agenciasinc.es/Noticias/La-promiscuidad-de-las-mariposas-mejora-su-supervivencia
http://phys.org/news/2012-05-species-genomes-international-consortium-sequences.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120516135502.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120516140014.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/05/17/3503366.htm
http://www.sciencecodex.com/heliconius_butterfly_genome_explains_wing_pattern_diversity-91672
http://www.myscience.me.uk/wire/butterfly_genome_reveals_a_promiscuous_past-2012-cambridge

&c



-- 
James Mallet
OEB Dept, Harvard University
&  Professor of Biological Diversity,
      University College London
16 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/jim

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