title: Artificially induced changes of butterfly wing colour patterns: dynamic signal interactions in eyespot development.
abstract: Eyespot formation in butterfly wings has been explained by the concentration gradient model. However, this model has recently been questioned, and dynamic interactions between the black-inducing signal and its inhibitory signal have been proposed. Here, the validity of these models was examined using a nymphalid butterfly Junonia almana. Early focal damage to the major eyespots often made them smaller, whereas the late damage made the outer ring larger and the inner ring smaller in a single eyespot. Non-focal damage at the outer ring not only attracted the whole eyespot structure toward the damaged site but also reduced the overall size of the eyespot. Surprisingly, a reduction of the major eyespot was accompanied by an enlargement of the associated miniature eyespots. These results demonstrate limitations of the conventional gradient model and support a dynamic interactive nature of morphogenic signals for colour-pattern determination in butterfly wings.
authors.affiliation: The BCPH Unit of Molecular Physiology, Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus , 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan. otaki@sci.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Joji M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Otaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002080:Butterflies / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009024:Morphogenesis; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology