A Diet-Induced Developmental Polymorphism in a Caterpillar

Greene, Erick

doi:10.1126/science.243.4891.643

Cited by 250 publications

(136 citation statements)

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“…T he highly diverse colour patterns on caterpillars are of great evolutionary interest because of their association with natural selection [1][2][3] . Similar to the adult wings of butterflies and moths, their larvae, which are often preyed upon by other animals, also show diverse camouflage and warningcolour patterns 4,5 .…”

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The transcription factor Apontic-like controls diverse colouration pattern in caterpillars

et al. 2014

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Genetic polymorphisms underlie the convergent and divergent evolution of various phenotypes. Diverse colour patterns on caterpillars, which are ecologically important, are good models for understanding the molecular backgrounds of phenotypic diversity. Here we show that a single evolutionarily conserved gene apontic-like (apt-like) encoding for a putative transcription factor accounts for the silkworm p locus, which causes at least 15 different larval markings involved in branch-like markings and eye-spot formation. The expression of apt-like and melanin synthesis genes are upregulated in association with pigmented areas of marking mutants Striped (p S ) and normal ( þ p ) but not in the non-marking allele plain (p). Functional analyses, ectopic expression, RNAi and TALEN, demonstrate that apt-like causes melanin pigmentation in a cell-autonomous manner. These results suggest that variation in p alleles is caused by the differential expression of the gene apt-like which induces targeted elevation of gene expressions in the melanin synthesis pathway.

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The transcription factor Apontic-like controls diverse colouration pattern in caterpillars

et al. 2014

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“…Sci. USA 96 (1999)gene expression is almost certainly involved in trophic polyphenisms found in aphids (1) and caterpillars (40) and in the production of defender larval forms in parasitic wasps (41).…”

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Differential gene expression between developing queens and workers in the honey bee,Apismellifera

Evans

Wheeler

1999

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Many insects show polyphenisms, or alternative morphologies, which are based on differential gene expression rather than genetic polymorphism. Queens and workers are alternative forms of the adult female honey bee and represent one of the best known examples of insect polyphenism. Hormonal regulation of caste determination in honey bees has been studied in detail, but little is known about the proximate molecular mechanisms underlying this process, or any other such polyphenism. We report the success of a molecular-genetic approach for studying queen-and workerspecific gene expression in the development of the honey bee (Apis mellifera). Numerous genes appear to be differentially expressed between the two castes. Seven differentially expressed loci described here belong to at least five distinctly different evolutionary and functional groups. Two are particularly promising as potential regulators of caste differentiation. One is homologous to a widespread class of proteins that bind lipids and other hydrophobic ligands, including retinoic acid. The second locus shows sequence similarity to a DNAbinding domain in the Ets family of transcription factors. The remaining loci appear to be involved with downstream changes inherent to queen-or worker-specific developmental pathways. Caste determination in honey bees is typically thought of as primarily queen determination; our results make it clear that the process involves specific activation of genes in workers as well as in queens.

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“…individual Nemoria arizonaria larva can resemble either oak twigs or oak catkins [36], and larvae of the American peppered moth, Biston betularia cognataria, resemble birch twigs when found on birch trees, Betula nigra, and willow twigs when found on willow trees, Salix babylonica [37]. This variability effectively allows a single masquerading species to resemble a number of distinct models [2,3,7], thereby increasing the total number of model items that they resemble.…”

Section: Predator Cognition and The Evolution Of Masqueradementioning

confidence: 99%

Cognition and the evolution of camouflage

Stachurski

Rowe

2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Camouflage is one of the most widespread forms of anti-predator defence and prevents prey individuals from being detected or correctly recognized by would-be predators. Over the past decade, there has been a resurgence of interest in both the evolution of prey camouflage patterns, and in understanding animal cognition in a more ecological context. However, these fields rarely collide, and the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage is poorly understood. Here, we review what we currently know about the role of both predator and prey cognition in the evolution of prey camouflage, outline why cognition may be an important selective pressure driving the evolution of camouflage and consider how studying the cognitive processes of animals may prove to be a useful tool to study the evolution of camouflage, and vice versa. In doing so, we highlight that we still have a lot to learn about the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage and identify a number of avenues for future research.

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A Diet-Induced Developmental Polymorphism in a Caterpillar

Cited by 250 publications

References 13 publications

The transcription factor Apontic-like controls diverse colouration pattern in caterpillars

The transcription factor Apontic-like controls diverse colouration pattern in caterpillars

Differential gene expression between developing queens and workers in the honey bee,Apismellifera

Cognition and the evolution of camouflage

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