Comparative transcriptomics of albino and warningly‐coloured caterpillars

Galarza, Juan A.

doi:10.1002/ece3.7581

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…The expression of melanin is often genetically based (Ellers and Boggs, 2002; Lindstedt et al 2009; van’t Hof et al 2019) and is also tightly related to protein resources (Lee, Simpson & Wilson, 2008). The proteins necessary for the synthesis of melanin pigments can thus constrain the expression of life-history traits, colouration or chemical defences (Lindstedt et al, 2020; Galarza 2021), making aposematic signals that require melanin good candidates for testing the resource-allocation hypothesis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet influences resource allocation in chemical defence but not melanin synthesis in an aposematic moth

Ottocento

Rojas

Burdfield‐Steel

et al. 2023

Preprint

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1. Aposematic organisms exhibit warning signals (primary defences) coupled with secondary defences, and competing for the same resources may lead to trade-offs in resource allocation. For animals that synthesise their chemical compounds de novo, resources, particularly proteins, can be expected to influence the investment in chemical defences and nitrogen-based warning colours such as melanin. 2. We manipulated protein availability in the larval diet of the wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis, to test how early life resource availability influences relevant life history traits, pigment production, and chemical defences. According to the resource allocation hypothesis, we expected individuals with less melanin (i.e., larger warning signals) to have more resources to allocate to chemical defences. 3. Then, we tested the efficacy of chemical defences of moths raised on diets with different protein content by presenting oat baits soaked with moth defensive fluids to wild-caught avian predators and observed their responses. 4. Early-resource environment affected chemical defences and developmental time of male moths but did not affect melanin expression in the wings. The amount of melanin in the wings, however, correlated with chemical defences: irrespective of the diet they were raised on, more-melanised individuals (i.e., smaller warning signal) produced more deterrent defensive fluids. Thus, the negative correlation between primary and secondary defences arises from more melanised individuals having better chemical defences, and not from resource allocation. 5. We conclude that the resources available in early life have an important role in the efficacy of chemical defences, but melanin-based warning colours are less sensitive to the variability of resources than other fitness-related traits.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet influences resource allocation in chemical defence but not melanin synthesis in an aposematic moth

Ottocento

Rojas

Burdfield‐Steel

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Our preliminary pigment analyses in the wood tiger moth indicate that the white pigmentation in the wings is produced by N‐acetyldopamine (NADA) sclerotin, whereas the yellow pigment is derived from a mix of N‐β‐alanyldopamine (NBAD) sclerotin and pheomelanin and the red pigment results from a dopamine‐derived pheomelanin (Brien et al In Prep.). Also, differential expression in melanin‐promoting and melanin‐inhibiting genes impacts black colouration in the cuticle and in the hairs of wood tiger moth caterpillars (Galarza, 2021). Plausibly, differential regulation in genes involved in the melanin pathway could contribute to the colour differences between the sexes (Gazda et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Prep.). Also, differential expression in melanin-promoting and melanin-inhibiting genes impacts black colouration in the cuticle and in the hairs of wood tiger moth caterpillars (Galarza, 2021). Plausibly, differential regulation in genes involved in the melanin pathway could contribute to the colour differences between the sexes (Gazda et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic colour variation visible for predators and conspecifics is concealed from humans in a polymorphic moth

Nokelainen

Galarza

Kirvesoja

et al. 2022

J of Evolutionary Biology

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“…We suspect that yellow family genes play multiple roles within the melanin production pathway. In the wood tiger moth, yellow affects the conversion of DOPA into black dopamine melanin (Galarza, 2021). Yellow-e in particular has been linked to larval colouration in Bombyx mori (Ito et al ., 2010) and adult colour in beetles (Wang et al ., 2022), while another gene, yellow-f , has a role in eumelanin production (Barek et al ., 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colour polymorphism associated with a gene duplication in male wood tiger moths

Brien

Orteu

Yen

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Colour is often used as an aposematic warning signal, with predator learning expected to lead to a single colour pattern within a population. However, there are many puzzling cases where aposematic signals are also polymorphic. The wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis, uses bright hindwing colours as a signal of unpalatability, and males have discrete colour morphs which vary in frequency geographically. In Finland, both white and yellow morphs can be found, and these colour morphs also differ in behavioural and life-history traits. Complex polymorphisms such as these are often explained by supergenes. Here, we show that male colour is linked to an extra copy of a yellow family gene that is only present in the white morphs. This white-specific duplication, which we name valkea, is highly upregulated during wing development, and could act to reduce recombination, thus potentially representing a supergene. We also characterise the pigments responsible for yellow, white and black colouration, showing that yellow is partly produced by pheomelanins, while black is dopamine-derived eumelanin. The yellow family genes have been linked to melanin synthesis and behavioural traits in other insect species. Our results add to only a few examples of seemingly paradoxical and complex polymorphisms which are associated with single genes.

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Comparative transcriptomics of albino and warningly‐coloured caterpillars

Cited by 6 publications

References 79 publications

Diet influences resource allocation in chemical defence but not melanin synthesis in an aposematic moth

Diet influences resource allocation in chemical defence but not melanin synthesis in an aposematic moth

Genetic colour variation visible for predators and conspecifics is concealed from humans in a polymorphic moth

Colour polymorphism associated with a gene duplication in male wood tiger moths

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