Highly conserved gene order and numerous novel repetitive elements in genomic regions linked to wing pattern variation in <it>Heliconius </it>butterflies
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With over 20 parapatric races differing in their warningly colored wing patterns, the butterfly <it>Heliconius erato </it>provides a fascinating example of an adaptive radiation. Together with matching races of its co-mim...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2008-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Genomics |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/9/345 |
| _version_ | 1819086404827742208 |
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| author | Halder Georg Chen Rui Counterman Brian A Walters James R Morrison Clayton M Papa Riccardo Ferguson Laura Chamberlain Nicola ffrench-Constant Richard Kapan Durrell D Jiggins Chris D Reed Robert D McMillan William O |
| author_facet | Halder Georg Chen Rui Counterman Brian A Walters James R Morrison Clayton M Papa Riccardo Ferguson Laura Chamberlain Nicola ffrench-Constant Richard Kapan Durrell D Jiggins Chris D Reed Robert D McMillan William O |
| author_sort | Halder Georg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With over 20 parapatric races differing in their warningly colored wing patterns, the butterfly <it>Heliconius erato </it>provides a fascinating example of an adaptive radiation. Together with matching races of its co-mimic <it>Heliconius melpomene</it>, <it>H. erato </it>also represents a textbook case of Müllerian mimicry, a phenomenon where common warning signals are shared amongst noxious organisms. It is of great interest to identify the specific genes that control the mimetic wing patterns of <it>H. erato </it>and <it>H. melpomene</it>. To this end we have undertaken comparative mapping and targeted genomic sequencing in both species. This paper reports on a comparative analysis of genomic sequences linked to color pattern mimicry genes in <it>Heliconius</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Scoring AFLP polymorphisms in <it>H. erato </it>broods allowed us to survey loci at approximately 362 kb intervals across the genome. With this strategy we were able to identify markers tightly linked to two color pattern genes: <it>D </it>and <it>Cr</it>, which were then used to screen <it>H. erato </it>BAC libraries in order to identify clones for sequencing. Gene density across 600 kb of BAC sequences appeared relatively low, although the number of predicted open reading frames was typical for an insect. We focused analyses on the <it>D- </it>and <it>Cr</it>-linked <it>H. erato </it>BAC sequences and on the <it>Yb</it>-linked <it>H. melpomene </it>BAC sequence. A comparative analysis between homologous regions of <it>H. erato </it>(<it>Cr</it>-linked BAC) and <it>H. melpomene </it>(<it>Yb</it>-linked BAC) revealed high levels of sequence conservation and microsynteny between the two species. We found that repeated elements constitute 26% and 20% of BAC sequences from <it>H. erato </it>and <it>H. melpomene </it>respectively. The majority of these repetitive sequences appear to be novel, as they showed no significant similarity to any other available insect sequences. We also observed signs of fine scale conservation of gene order between <it>Heliconius </it>and the moth <it>Bombyx mori</it>, suggesting that lepidopteran genome architecture may be conserved over very long evolutionary time scales.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Here we have demonstrated the tractability of progressing from a genetic linkage map to genomic sequence data in <it>Heliconius </it>butterflies. We have also shown that fine-scale gene order is highly conserved between distantly related <it>Heliconius </it>species, and also between <it>Heliconius </it>and <it>B. mori</it>. Together, these findings suggest that genome structure in macrolepidoptera might be very conserved, and show that mapping and positional cloning efforts in different lepidopteran species can be reciprocally informative.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T21:19:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c5710771f6f5469bac6dc1764ea35cf8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2164 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T21:19:43Z |
| publishDate | 2008-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
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| series | BMC Genomics |
| spelling | doaj.art-c5710771f6f5469bac6dc1764ea35cf82022-12-21T18:49:55ZengBMCBMC Genomics1471-21642008-07-019134510.1186/1471-2164-9-345Highly conserved gene order and numerous novel repetitive elements in genomic regions linked to wing pattern variation in <it>Heliconius </it>butterfliesHalder GeorgChen RuiCounterman Brian AWalters James RMorrison Clayton MPapa RiccardoFerguson LauraChamberlain Nicolaffrench-Constant RichardKapan Durrell DJiggins Chris DReed Robert DMcMillan William O<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With over 20 parapatric races differing in their warningly colored wing patterns, the butterfly <it>Heliconius erato </it>provides a fascinating example of an adaptive radiation. Together with matching races of its co-mimic <it>Heliconius melpomene</it>, <it>H. erato </it>also represents a textbook case of Müllerian mimicry, a phenomenon where common warning signals are shared amongst noxious organisms. It is of great interest to identify the specific genes that control the mimetic wing patterns of <it>H. erato </it>and <it>H. melpomene</it>. To this end we have undertaken comparative mapping and targeted genomic sequencing in both species. This paper reports on a comparative analysis of genomic sequences linked to color pattern mimicry genes in <it>Heliconius</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Scoring AFLP polymorphisms in <it>H. erato </it>broods allowed us to survey loci at approximately 362 kb intervals across the genome. With this strategy we were able to identify markers tightly linked to two color pattern genes: <it>D </it>and <it>Cr</it>, which were then used to screen <it>H. erato </it>BAC libraries in order to identify clones for sequencing. Gene density across 600 kb of BAC sequences appeared relatively low, although the number of predicted open reading frames was typical for an insect. We focused analyses on the <it>D- </it>and <it>Cr</it>-linked <it>H. erato </it>BAC sequences and on the <it>Yb</it>-linked <it>H. melpomene </it>BAC sequence. A comparative analysis between homologous regions of <it>H. erato </it>(<it>Cr</it>-linked BAC) and <it>H. melpomene </it>(<it>Yb</it>-linked BAC) revealed high levels of sequence conservation and microsynteny between the two species. We found that repeated elements constitute 26% and 20% of BAC sequences from <it>H. erato </it>and <it>H. melpomene </it>respectively. The majority of these repetitive sequences appear to be novel, as they showed no significant similarity to any other available insect sequences. We also observed signs of fine scale conservation of gene order between <it>Heliconius </it>and the moth <it>Bombyx mori</it>, suggesting that lepidopteran genome architecture may be conserved over very long evolutionary time scales.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Here we have demonstrated the tractability of progressing from a genetic linkage map to genomic sequence data in <it>Heliconius </it>butterflies. We have also shown that fine-scale gene order is highly conserved between distantly related <it>Heliconius </it>species, and also between <it>Heliconius </it>and <it>B. mori</it>. Together, these findings suggest that genome structure in macrolepidoptera might be very conserved, and show that mapping and positional cloning efforts in different lepidopteran species can be reciprocally informative.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/9/345 |
| spellingShingle | Halder Georg Chen Rui Counterman Brian A Walters James R Morrison Clayton M Papa Riccardo Ferguson Laura Chamberlain Nicola ffrench-Constant Richard Kapan Durrell D Jiggins Chris D Reed Robert D McMillan William O Highly conserved gene order and numerous novel repetitive elements in genomic regions linked to wing pattern variation in <it>Heliconius </it>butterflies BMC Genomics |
| title | Highly conserved gene order and numerous novel repetitive elements in genomic regions linked to wing pattern variation in <it>Heliconius </it>butterflies |
| title_full | Highly conserved gene order and numerous novel repetitive elements in genomic regions linked to wing pattern variation in <it>Heliconius </it>butterflies |
| title_fullStr | Highly conserved gene order and numerous novel repetitive elements in genomic regions linked to wing pattern variation in <it>Heliconius </it>butterflies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Highly conserved gene order and numerous novel repetitive elements in genomic regions linked to wing pattern variation in <it>Heliconius </it>butterflies |
| title_short | Highly conserved gene order and numerous novel repetitive elements in genomic regions linked to wing pattern variation in <it>Heliconius </it>butterflies |
| title_sort | highly conserved gene order and numerous novel repetitive elements in genomic regions linked to wing pattern variation in it heliconius it butterflies |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/9/345 |
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