[HELICONIUS] Yay! Heliconius erato genomics too.

[James Mallet]

Genomic architecture of adaptive color pattern divergence and 
convergence in /Heliconius/ butterflies
Megan A Supple1, Heather M Hines2, Kanchon K Dasmahapatra3, James J 
Lewis4, Dahlia M Nielsen5, Christine Lavoie6, David A Ray6, Camilo 
Salazar7, W. Owen McMillan8 and Brian A Counterman6,9

Identifying the genetic changes driving adaptive variation in natural 
populations is key to understanding the origins of biodiversity. The 
mosaic of mimetic wing patterns in/Heliconius/butterflies makes an 
excellent system for exploring adaptive variation using next-generation 
sequencing. In this study, we use a combination of techniques to 
annotate the genomic interval modulating red color pattern variation, 
identify a narrow region responsible for adaptive divergence and 
convergence in/Heliconius/wing color patterns, and explore the 
evolutionary history of these adaptive alleles. We use whole genome 
resequencing from four hybrid zones between divergent color pattern 
races of/Heliconius erato/and two hybrid zones of the 
co-mimic/Heliconius melpomene/to examine genetic variation across 2.2 Mb 
of a partial reference sequence. In the intergenic region near/optix/, 
the gene previously shown to be responsible for the complex red pattern 
variation in/Heliconius/, population genetic analyses identify a shared 
65 kb region of divergence that includes several sites perfectly 
associated with phenotype within each species. This region likely 
contains multiple/cis/-regulatory elements that control discrete 
expression domains of/optix/. The parallel signatures of genetic 
differentiation in/H. erato/and/H. melpomene/support a shared genetic 
architecture between the two distantly related co-mimics; however, 
phylogenetic analysis suggests mimetic patterns in each species evolved 
independently. Using a combination of next-generation sequencing 
analyses, we have refined our understanding of the genetic architecture 
of wing pattern variation in/Heliconius/and gained important insights 
into the evolution of novel adaptive phenotypes in natural populations.


http://genome.cshlp.org/content/early/2013/05/14/gr.150615.112.short

-- 
James Mallet
OEB & GEE Depts
Harvard University & University College London
Cambridge, MA 02138 and LONDON WC1E 6BT
USA tel: +(1)617-496-5350
www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/jim

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