
@article {81498,
	title = {Molecular Evolution and Developmental Expression of Melanin Pathway Genes in Lepidoptera},
	journal = {FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION},
	volume = {8},
	year = {2020},
	month = {07/2020},
	abstract = {<p>Pigmentation is involved in a wide array of biological functions across insect orders, including body patterning, thermoregulation, and immunity. The melanin pathway, in particular, has been characterized in several species. However, molecular evolution of the genes involved in this pathway is poorly explored. We traced the molecular evolution of six melanin pathway genes in 53 species of Lepidoptera covering butterflies and moths, and representing over 100 million years of diversification. We compared the rates of synonymous and non-synonymous substitutions within and between these genes to study the signatures of selection at the level of individual sites, genes, and branches of the gene tree. We found that molecular evolution of all six genes was governed by strong purifying selection. Yet, a number of sites showed signs of being under positive selection, including in the highly conserved domain regions of three genes. Further, we traced the expression of these genes across developmental stages, tissues, and sexes in thePapilio polytesbutterfly using a developmental transcriptome dataset. We observed that the expression patterns of the genes inP. polyteslargely reflected their known tissue-specific function in other species. The expression of sequentially acting genes in the melanin pathway was correlated. Interestingly, melanin pathway genes also showed a sexually dimorphic pattern of developmental heterochrony, i.e., females showed prominent upregulation of melanin pathway genes in pre-pupal stage compared to males, while males showed prominent upregulation in 9-day pupal wings compared to females. Our evolutionary and developmental analyses suggest that the vast diversity of wing patterning and pigmentation in Lepidoptera may have evolved despite largely constrained sequence evolution, with potential contribution from differential developmental expression of genes in a highly conserved pathway.</p>
},
	doi = {10.3389/fevo.2020.00226},
	author = {Kuwalekar, Muktai and Deshmukh, Riddhi and Padvi, Ajay and Kunte, Krushnamegh}
}
@article {28068,
	title = {Mimicry in butterflies: co-option and a bag of magnificent developmental genetic tricks.},
	journal = {Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol},
	volume = {7},
	year = {2018},
	month = {2018 Jan},
	abstract = {<p>Butterfly wing patterns are key adaptations that are controlled by remarkable developmental and genetic mechanisms that facilitate rapid evolutionary change. With swift advancements in the fields of genomics and genetic manipulations, identifying the regulators of wing development and mimetic wing patterns has become feasible even in nonmodel organisms such as butterflies. Recent mapping and gene expression studies have identified single switch loci of major effects such as transcription factors and supergenes as the main drivers of adaptive evolution of mimetic and polymorphic butterfly wing patterns. We highlight several of these examples, with emphasis on doublesex, optix, WntA and other dynamic, yet essential, master regulators that control critical color variation and sex-specific traits. Co-option emerges as a predominant theme, where typically embryonic and other early-stage developmental genes and networks have been rewired to regulate polymorphic and sex-limited mimetic wing patterns in iconic butterfly adaptations. Drawing comparisons from our knowledge of wing development in Drosophila, we illustrate the functional space of genes that have been recruited to regulate butterfly wing patterns. We also propose a developmental pathway that potentially results in dorsoventral mismatch in butterfly wing patterns. Such dorsoventrally mismatched color patterns modulate signal components of butterfly wings that are used in intra- and inter-specific communication. Recent advances-fuelled by RNAi-mediated knockdowns and CRISPR/Cas9-based genomic edits-in the developmental genetics of butterfly wing patterns, and the underlying biological diversity and complexity of wing coloration, are pushing butterflies as an emerging model system in ecological genetics and evolutionary developmental biology. WIREs Dev Biol 2018, 7:e291. doi: 10.1002/wdev.291 This article is categorized under: Gene Expression and Transcriptional Hierarchies \&gt; Regulatory Mechanisms Comparative Development and Evolution \&gt; Regulation of Organ Diversity Comparative Development and Evolution \&gt; Evolutionary Novelties.</p>
},
	issn = {1759-7692},
	doi = {10.1002/wdev.291},
	author = {Deshmukh, Riddhi and Baral, Saurav and Gandhimathi, A and Kuwalekar, Muktai and Kunte, Krushnamegh}
}
