June 1, 2016
The same gene that enables
tropical butterflies to mimic each other's bright and colourful patterning also
caused British moths to turn black amid the grime of the industrial revolution,
researchers have found.
Writing in the
journal Nature, a team of researchers led by academics at the Universities
of Cambridge and Sheffield, report that a fast-evolving gene known as
"cortex" appears to play a critical role in dictating the colours and
patterns on butterfly wings.
A parallel paper in the same
journal by researchers from the University of Liverpool shows that this same
gene also caused the peppered moth to turn black during the mid-19th century,
when it evolved to find new ways to camouflage itself; a side-effect of
industrial pollution at the time.
The finding offers clues about
how genetics plays a role in making evolution a predictable process. For
reasons the researchers have yet to understand in full, the cortex gene, which
helps to regulate cell division in butterflies and moths, has become a major target for
natural selection acting on colour and pattern on the wings.
Chris Jiggins, Professor of
Evolutionary Biology and a Fellow of St John's College, University of
Cambridge, said: "What's exciting is that it turns out to be the same gene
in both cases. For the moths, the dark colouration developed because they were
trying to hide, but the butterflies use bright colours to advertise their
toxicity to predators. It raises the question that given the diversity in
butterflies and moths, and the hundreds of genes involved in making a wing, why
is it this one every time?"
Dr Nicola Nadeau, a NERC Research
Fellow from the University of Sheffield added: "It's amazing that the same
gene controls such a diversity of different colours and patterns in butterflies
and a moth. Our study, together with the findings from the University of
Liverpool, shows that the cortex gene is important for colour and pattern
evolution in this whole group of insects."
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