The genetic basis of structural colour variation in mimetic Heliconius butterflies

The actin cytoskeleton plays multiple roles in structural colour formation in butterfly wing scales

Vivid structural colours in butterflies are caused by photonic nanostructures scattering light. Structural colours evolved for numerous biological signalling functions and have important technological applications. Optically, such structures are well understood, however insight into their development in vivo remains scarce. We show that actin is intimately involved in structural colour formation in butterfly wing scales. Using comparisons between iridescent (structurally coloured) and non-iridescent scales in adult and developing H. sara, we show that iridescent scales have more densely packed actin bundles leading to an increased density of reflective ridges. Super-resolution microscopy across three distantly related butterfly species reveals that actin is repeatedly re-arranged during scale development and crucially when the optical nanostructures are forming. Furthermore, actin perturbation experiments at these later developmental stages resulted in near total loss of structural colour in H. sara. Overall, this shows that actin plays a vital and direct templating role during structural colour formation in butterfly scales, providing ridge patterning mechanisms that are likely universal across lepidoptera.

A meta-analysis of butterfly structural colors: their color range, distribution and biological production

Butterfly scales are among the richest natural sources of optical nanostructures, which produce structural color and iridescence. Several recurring nanostructure types have been described, such as ridge multilayers, gyroids and lower lamina thin films. While the optical mechanisms of these nanostructure classes are known, their phylogenetic distributions and functional ranges have not been described in detail. In this Review, we examine a century of research on the biological production of structural colors, including their evolution, development and genetic regulation. We have also created a database of more than 300 optical nanostructures in butterflies and conducted a meta-analysis of the color range, abundance and phylogenetic distribution of each nanostructure class. Butterfly structural colors are ubiquitous in short wavelengths but extremely rare in long wavelengths, especially red. In particular, blue wavelengths (around 450 nm) occur in more clades and are produced by more kinds of nanostructures than other hues. Nanostructure categories differ in prevalence, phylogenetic distribution, color range and brightness. For example, lamina thin films are the least bright; perforated lumen multilayers occur most often but are almost entirely restricted to the family Lycaenidae; and 3D photonic crystals, including gyroids, have the narrowest wavelength range (from about 450 to 550 nm). We discuss the implications of these patterns in terms of nanostructure evolution, physical constraint and relationships to pigmentary color. Finally, we highlight opportunities for future research, such as analyses of subadult and Hesperid structural colors and the identification of genes that directly build the nanostructures, with relevance for biomimetic engineering.

Hierarchical morphogenesis of swallowtail butterfly wing scale nanostructures

The study of color patterns in the animal integument is a fundamental question in biology, with many lepidopteran species being exemplary models in this endeavor due to their relative simplicity and elegance. While significant advances have been made in unraveling the cellular and molecular basis of lepidopteran pigmentary coloration, the morphogenesis of wing scale nanostructures involved in structural color production is not well understood. Contemporary research on this topic largely focuses on a few nymphalid model taxa (e.g., Bicyclus, Heliconius), despite an overwhelming diversity in the hierarchical nanostructural organization of lepidopteran wing scales. Here, we present a time-resolved, comparative developmental study of hierarchical scale nanostructures in Parides eurimedes and five other papilionid species. Our results uphold the putative conserved role of F-actin bundles in acting as spacers between developing ridges, as previously documented in several nymphalid species. Interestingly, while ridges are developing in P. eurimedes, plasma membrane manifests irregular mesh-like crossribs characteristic of Papilionidae, which delineate the accretion of cuticle into rows of planar disks in between ridges. Once the ridges have grown, disintegrating F-actin bundles appear to reorganize into a network that supports the invagination of plasma membrane underlying the disks, subsequently forming an extruded honeycomb lattice. Our results uncover a previously undocumented role for F-actin in the morphogenesis of complex wing scale nanostructures, likely specific to Papilionidae.

Genetics of yellow-orange color variation in a pair of sympatric sulphur butterflies

Continuous color polymorphisms can serve as a tractable model for the genetic and developmental architecture of traits. Here we investigated continuous color variation in Colias eurytheme and Colias philodice, two species of sulphur butterflies that hybridize in sympatry. Using quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis and high-throughput color quantification, we found two interacting large-effect loci affecting orange-to-yellow chromaticity. Knockouts of red Malpighian tubules (red), likely involved in endosomal maturation, result in depigmented wing scales. Additionally, the transcription factor bric-a-brac can act as a modulator of orange pigmentation. We also describe the QTL architecture of other continuously varying traits, together supporting a large-X effect model where the genetic control of species-defining traits is enriched on sex chromosomes. This study sheds light on the range of possible genetic architectures that can underpin a continuously varying trait and illustrates the power of using automated measurement to score phenotypes that are not always conspicuous to the human eye.

Repeated genetic adaptation to altitude in two tropical butterflies

Repeated evolution can provide insight into the mechanisms that facilitate adaptation to novel or changing environments. Here we study adaptation to altitude in two tropical butterflies, Heliconius erato and H. melpomene, which have repeatedly and independently adapted to montane habitats on either side of the Andes. We sequenced 518 whole genomes from altitudinal transects and found many regions differentiated between highland (~ 1200 m) and lowland (~ 200 m) populations. We show repeated genetic differentiation across replicate populations within species, including allopatric comparisons. In contrast, there is little molecular parallelism between the two species. By sampling five close relatives, we find that a large proportion of divergent regions identified within species have arisen from standing variation and putative adaptive introgression from high-altitude specialist species. Taken together our study supports a role for both standing genetic variation and gene flow from independently adapted species in promoting parallel local adaptation to the environment.

Here, the authors study adaptation to altitude in 518 whole genomes from two species of tropical butterflies. They find repeated genetic differentiation within species, little molecular parallelism between these species, and introgression from closely related species, concluding that standing genetic variation promotes parallel local adaptation.

Genetic basis of speciation and adaptation: from loci to causative mutations

Does evolution proceed in small steps or large leaps? How repeatable is evolution? How constrained is the evolutionary process? Answering these long-standing questions in evolutionary biology is indispensable for both understanding how extant biodiversity has evolved and predicting how organisms and ecosystems will respond to changing environments in the future. Understanding the genetic basis of phenotypic diversification and speciation in natural populations is key to properly answering these questions. The leap forward in genome sequencing technologies has made it increasingly easier to not only investigate the genetic architecture but also identify the variant sites underlying adaptation and speciation in natural populations. Furthermore, recent advances in genome editing technologies are making it possible to investigate the functions of each candidate gene in organisms from natural populations. In this article, we discuss how these recent technological advances enable the analysis of causative genes and mutations and how such analysis can help answer long-standing evolutionary biology questions.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Genetic basis of adaptation and speciation: from loci to causative mutations’.