2011/07/21 by Robert D. Reed, Riccardo Papa, Arnaud Martin +10 · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Neuroscience · #Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy #Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior #Heliconius #Mimicry #Convergent evolution #Evolutionary biology #Biology #Aposematism #Butterfly #Wing #Parallel evolution #Müllerian mimicry #Evolutionary developmental biology #Population #Gene #Genetics #Phylogenetics #Zoology #Ecology
paper · doi:10.1126/science.1208227
openalex publication_date 2011/07/21 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Mimicry--whereby warning signals in different species evolve to look similar--has long served as a paradigm of convergent evolution. Little is known, however, about the genes that underlie the evolution of mimetic phenotypes or to what extent the same or different genes drive such convergence. Here, we characterize one of the major genes responsible for mimetic wing pattern evolution in Heliconius butterflies. Mapping, gene expression, and population genetic work all identify a single gene, optix, that controls extreme red wing pattern variation across multiple species of Heliconius. Our results show that the cis-regulatory evolution of a single transcription factor can repeatedly drive the convergent evolution of complex color patterns in distantly related species, thus blurring the distinction between convergence and homology.