title: Ancient homology underlies adaptive mimetic diversity across butterflies.
abstract: Convergent evolution provides a rare, natural experiment with which to test the predictability of adaptation at the molecular level. Little is known about the molecular basis of convergence over macro-evolutionary timescales. Here we use a combination of positional cloning, population genomic resequencing, association mapping and developmental data to demonstrate that positionally orthologous nucleotide variants in the upstream region of the same gene, WntA, are responsible for parallel mimetic variation in two butterfly lineages that diverged >65 million years ago. Furthermore, characterization of spatial patterns of WntA expression during development suggests that alternative regulatory mechanisms underlie wing pattern variation in each system. Taken together, our results reveal a strikingly predictable molecular basis for phenotypic convergence over deep evolutionary time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Jason R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gallant
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Vance E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Imhoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA [2] Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854, USA.
authors.forename: Wesley K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Nicola L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Chamberlain
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Ben L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Pote
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Chelsea
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriella E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Marcus R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Kronforst
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Sean P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Mullen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002080:Butterflies / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics*; D017344:Genes, Insect / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016678:Genome; D010641:Phenotype; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000235:genetics*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D051153:Wnt Proteins