Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://repositorio.uti.edu.ec//handle/123456789/3107
Title: Phenotypic variation in Heliconius erato crosses shows that iridescent structural colour is sex-linked and controlled by multiple genes
Authors: Brien, Melanie
Enciso-Romero, Juan
Parnell, Andrew
Salazar, Patricio
Morochz, Carlos
Chalá, Darwin
Bainbridge, Hannah
Zinn, Thomas
Curran, Emma
Nadeau, Nicola
Issue Date: 2019
Publisher: Interface Focus. Volume 9, Issue 1
Abstract: Bright, highly reflective iridescent colours can be seen across nature and are produced by the scattering of light from nanostructures. Heliconius butterflies have been widely studied for their diversity and mimicry of wing colour patterns. Despite iridescence evolving multiple times in this genus, little is known about the genetic basis of the colour and the development of the structures which produce it. Heliconius erato can be found across Central and South America, but only races found in western Ecuador and Colombia have developed blue iridescent colour. Here, we use crosses between iridescent and non-iridescent races of H. erato to study phenotypic variation in the resulting F 2 generation. Using measurements of blue colour from photographs, we find that iridescent structural colour is a quantitative trait controlled by multiple genes, with strong evidence for loci on the Z sex chromosome. Iridescence is not linked to the Mendelian colour pattern locus that also segregates in these crosses (controlled by the gene cortex). Small-angle X-ray scattering data show that spacing between longitudinal ridges on the scales, which affects the intensity of the blue reflectance, also varies quantitatively in F 2 crosses.
URI: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsfs.2018.0047
http://repositorio.uti.edu.ec//handle/123456789/3107
Appears in Collections:Artículos Científicos Indexados

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