Collaborative Research: cis-Regulatory Basis of Butterfly Wing Pattern Evolution

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Non-technical description Understanding the formation of color patterns has long played a central theme in understanding biology. Butterfly wing color patterns represent a prime model to explore the history, genes, and mechanisms underlying wing patterning. A single gene (WntA) drives shape changes across the wing surface in many distantly related species, thus suggesting a fundamental and ancestral function in butterfly wing formation. The research team from the University of Puerto Rico, George Washington University, and Cornell University will investigate the gene changes underlying distribution of pigmentation across the wing surface among a variety of butterfly species. The goal of the study is to determine how WntA has acquired the ability to control diverse wing displays across multiple time scales. This study will set the foundation for understanding the interplay between gene regulation and diversity of form. Technical description This study aims to determine how gene regulatory architecture evolves in concert with an adaptive trait over different time scales. The research team will specifically focus on characterizing the regulatory mechanisms underlying the repeated role of the signaling ligand WntA in wing pattern evolution. This work will address how the modulation of WntA spatial expression has tinkered with the micro- and macroevolution of distinct wing phenotypes across 65 million years. We will specifically aim to address the following questions: (1) How many regulatory elements at a single gene control wing pattern variation, and what are the function of individual elements? (2) Do the same elements also control the convergent evolution of mimetic phenotypes in unrelated species? (3) To what extent are wing pattern CREs conserved versus novel across species with highly divergent wing patterns? Answering these questions will help set a precedent for understanding deeper phylogenetic patterns in the relationship between the evolution of CREs and the traits they define. Finally, this research project will synergize with educational opportunities spanning pre-college, undergraduate, and post-graduate levels of science education. The research work of our three groups will directly involve undergraduate researchers and the training of two postdocs.