| Title: | A major locus controls a biologically active pheromone component in Heliconius melpomene |
| Author(s): | Byers K; Darragh K; Musgrove J; Almeida DA; Garza SF; Warren IA; Rastas PM; Kucka M; Chan YF; Merrill RM; Schulz S; McMillan WO; Jiggins CD; |
| Address: | "Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, Panama. Current address: Institute for Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity, Goethe Universitat, 60323, Frankfurt, Germany. Current address: Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78315, Konstanz, Germany. Current address: Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior, University of Konstanz, 78464, Konstanz, Germany. Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland. Friedrich Miescher Laboratory, Max Planck Society, 72076, Tubingen, Germany. Division of Evolutionary Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, 80539, Munich, Germany. Department of Life Sciences, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Technische Universitat Braunschweig, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1558-5646 (Electronic) 0014-3820 (Print) 0014-3820 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Understanding the production, response, and genetics of signals used in mate choice can inform our understanding of the evolution of both intraspecific mate choice and reproductive isolation. Sex pheromones are important for courtship and mate choice in many insects, but we know relatively little of their role in butterflies. The butterfly Heliconius melpomene uses a complex blend of wing androconial compounds during courtship. Electroantennography in H. melpomene and its close relative Heliconius cydno showed that responses to androconial extracts were not species specific. Females of both species responded equally strongly to extracts of both species, suggesting conservation of peripheral nervous system elements across the two species. Individual blend components provoked little to no response, with the exception of octadecanal, a major component of the H. melpomene blend. Supplementing octadecanal on the wings of octadecanal-rich H. melpomene males led to an increase in the time until mating, demonstrating the bioactivity of octadecanal in Heliconius. Using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, we identified a single locus on chromosome 20 responsible for 41% of the parental species' difference in octadecanal production. This QTL does not overlap with any of the major wing color or mate choice loci, nor does it overlap with known regions of elevated or reduced F(ST) . A set of 16 candidate fatty acid biosynthesis genes lies underneath the QTL. Pheromones in Heliconius carry information relevant for mate choice and are under simple genetic control, suggesting they could be important during speciation" |
| Keywords: | Animals Butterflies/*genetics/metabolism Chromosome Mapping Female Male *Quantitative Trait Loci Sex Attractants/biosynthesis/*genetics/metabolism Behavior Heliconius electroantennography pheromones quantitative trait locus mapping; |
| Notes: | "MedlineByers, Kelsey J R P Darragh, Kathy Musgrove, Jamie Almeida, Diana Abondano Garza, Sylvia Fernanda Warren, Ian A Rastas, Pasi M Kucka, Marek Chan, Yingguang Frank Merrill, Richard M Schulz, Stefan McMillan, W Owen Jiggins, Chris D eng DFG Schu984/13-1/Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/International Doctoral Training Partnership/Natural Environment Research Council/International ERC_/European Research Council/International Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute/International Max-Planck-Gesellschaft/International Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2020/01/09 Evolution. 2020 Feb; 74(2):349-364. doi: 10.1111/evo.13922. Epub 2020 Jan 20" |
