Consuming your colors: Carotenoid and retinol availability affects expression of color related genes in the mimic poison frog (Ranitomeya imitator)
Color and patterns in animals are closely tied to reproduction and survival, and have long been of interest to evolutionary biologists. For instance, bright conspicuous coloration plays a vital role in aposematic organisms as these phenotypes help communicate to potential predators that they are chemically defended and therefore unpalatable. Although the field has made significant progress in identifying genes associated with the production of conspicuous coloration, our knowledge of the genes associated with carotenoid metabolism and their roles in pigmentation is incomplete. Here we attempt to fill this knowledge gap by investigating how dietary carotenoid and retinol availability affects levels of gene expression and color formation in two color morphs of the mimic poison frog (Ranitomeya imitator), the orange-banded Sauce morph and the red-headed Varadero morph which exhibit bright orange and red coloration, respectively.