title: Industrial melanism in British peppered moths has a singular and recent mutational origin.
abstract: The rapid spread of a novel black form (known as carbonaria) of the peppered moth Biston betularia in 19th-century Britain is a textbook example of how an altered environment may produce morphological adaptation through genetic change. However, the underlying genetic basis of the difference between the wild-type (light-colored) and carbonaria forms has remained unknown. We have genetically mapped the carbonaria morph to a 200-kilobase region orthologous to a segment of silkworm chromosome 17 and show that there is only one core sequence variant associated with the carbonaria morph, carrying a signature of recent strong selection. The carbonaria region coincides with major wing-patterning loci in other lepidopteran systems, suggesting the existence of basal color-patterning regulators in this region.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Arjen E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: van't Hof
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Edmonds
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dalíková
authors.forename: Frantisek
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marec
authors.forename: Ilik J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Saccheri
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D059006:Chromosomes, Insect / Q000235:genetics*; D017344:Genes, Insect; D056426:Genetic Loci; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008543:Melanins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics*; D009036:Moths / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D008543:Melanins