Evolution of Color Vision in a Mimetic Butterfly Complex

帝王蝶和总督蝶是最著名的防御性翼色模仿的例子，但对这两个物种的视觉系统知之甚少。像典型的成年昆虫一样，帝王蝶和总督具有由紫外线（UV）、蓝色（B）和长波长（L）敏感视觉色素介导的色觉。帝王蝶的眼睛也有异质表达的过滤色素，可以扩展可见光谱中红绿部分的色觉范围。相比之下，总督的眼睛缺乏这些过滤色素，并且在光谱的同一部分是色盲，包括他们自己的橙子颜色。此外，有显着的变化，在吸收光谱的最大值的L敏感的视色素之间的这一属的蝴蝶，与总督L色素显着蓝移。行为测试将被用来检查比较色觉，并从总督和君主的翅膀反射率数据将被收集和用于交配偏好实验的背景下。然后将进行行为实验，以检验假设，橙盲总督使用紫外线反射白色斑点作为线索时，选择配偶。此外，果蝇转基因和定点诱变将功能评估这些蝴蝶的天然视色素，并使用突变的视色素来定义正选择下的残基。比较色觉和交配偏好的数据将提供重要的生物学见解的积极选择的眼睛和色觉系统的蝴蝶的红绿色盲。该项目将为多层次综合方法的博士后助理提供一个良好的培训环境。来自NSF资助的少数民族科学计划学生库的UCI本科生将被招募并接受分子生物学培训。蝴蝶视觉和行为的讲座将被开发为昆虫生理学的高年级课程，并在网上公开。

Monarch and viceroy butterflies are the most famous example of defensive wing color mimicry, but little is known about the visual system of either species. Like the typical adult insect, monarchs and viceroys have color vision mediated by ultraviolet (UV), blue (B) and long (L) wavelength-sensitive visual pigments. Monarch eyes also have heterogeneously-expressed filtering pigments that may extend the range of color vision in the red-green part of the visible spectrum. By contrast, viceroy eyes lack these filtering pigments and are color-blind in the same part of the spectrum, which includes their own orange wing color. In addition, there is significant variation in the absorbance spectrum maximum of the L sensitive visual pigment among this genus of butterflies, with the viceroy L pigment being significantly blue-shifted. Behavioral tests will be used to examine comparative color vision, and wing reflectance data from viceroys and monarchs will be collected and used in the context of mating preference experiments. Behavioral experiments will then be performed to test the hypothesis that the orange-blind viceroys use the UV-reflecting white spots as a cue when selecting mates. Moreover, Drosophila transgenesis and site-directed mutagenesis will functionally evaluate the native visual pigments of these butterflies and use mutant visual pigments to define residues under positive selection. Comparative color vision and mating preference data will provide important biological insights into positive selection on the eyes and color vision system of butterflies for red-green color-blindness. This project will provide an excellent training environment for a postdoctoral associate in multi-level integrated approaches. Undergraduates at UCI from the NSF-funded Minority Science Program student pool will be recruited and trained in molecular biology. Lectures on butterfly vision and behavior will be developed for an upper-division course on insect physiology and made publicly available on the web.