Adaptive introgression of a visual preference gene

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Rossi, Matteo; Hausmann, Alexander E.; Alcami, Pepe; Moest, Markus; Roussou, Rodaria; Van Belleghem, Steven M.; Wright, Daniel Shane; Kuo, Chi-Yun; Lozano-Urrego, Daniela; Maulana, Arif; Melo-Florez, Lina; Rueda-Munoz, Geraldine; Mcmahon, Saoirse; Linares, Mauricio; Osman, Christof; Mcmillan, W. Owen; Pardo-Diaz, Carolina; Salazar, Camilo; Merrill, Richard M.
• 署名单位: University of Munich; Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; University of Innsbruck; KU Leuven; Universidad del Rosario; Rockefeller University; Kaohsiung Medical University
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-11840
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adj9201
• 发表日期: 2024-03-22
• 页码: 1368-1373
• 关键词: heliconius butterflies; reproductive isolation; sexual-dimorphism; mate preference; sensory drive; EVOLUTION; diversification; speciation; mimicry; dna

摘要

Visual preferences are important drivers of mate choice and sexual selection, but little is known of how they evolve at the genetic level. In this study, we took advantage of the diversity of bright warning patterns displayed by Heliconius butterflies, which are also used during mate choice. Combining behavioral, population genomic, and expression analyses, we show that two Heliconius species have evolved the same preferences for red patterns by exchanging genetic material through hybridization. Neural expression of regucalcin1 correlates with visual preference across populations, and disruption of regucalcin1 with CRISPR-Cas9 impairs courtship toward conspecific females, providing a direct link between gene and behavior. Our results support a role for hybridization during behavioral evolution and show how visually guided behaviors contributing to adaptation and speciation are encoded within the genome.