Ecological Genetics: A Key Gene for Mimicry and Melanism

James Mallet; Hopi E Hoekstra

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.031

Ecological Genetics: A Key Gene for Mimicry and Melanism

Curr Biol. 2016 Sep 12;26(17):R802-4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.031.

Authors

James Mallet¹, Hopi E Hoekstra²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: jmallet@oeb.harvard.edu.
² Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: hoekstra@oeb.harvard.edu.

PMID: 27623261
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.031

Abstract

Mimicry and melanism in Lepidoptera provided the first convincing examples of natural selection in action. Genetic analysis has now shown that, surprisingly, mimicry in Heliconius butterflies and melanism in peppered moths are switched at precisely the same gene: cortex.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
Butterflies*
Ecology
Melanosis
Selection, Genetic*

Grants and funding

HHMI/Howard Hughes Medical Institute/United States