Université de Fribourg

Ecological and genetic factors influencing the transition between host-use strategies in sympatric Heliconius butterflies

Merrill, R. M. ; Naisbit, Russell E. ; Mallet, J. ; Jiggins, Chris D.

In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2013, vol. 26, no. 9, p. 1959–1967

Shifts in host-plant use by phytophagous insects have played a central role in their diversification. Evolving host-use strategies will reflect a trade-off between selection pressures. The ecological niche of herbivorous insects is partitioned along several dimensions, and if populations remain in contact, recombination will break down associations between relevant loci. As such, genetic...

Université de Fribourg

Chromosomal rearrangements maintain a polymorphic supergene controlling butterfly mimicry

Joron, Mathieu ; Frezal, Lise ; Jones, Robert T. ; Chamberlain, Nicola L. ; Lee, Siu F. ; Haag, Christoph R. ; Whibley, Annabel ; Becuwe, Michel ; Baxter, Simon W. ; Ferguson, Laura ; A.Wilkinson, Paul ; Salazar, Camilo ; Davidson, Claire ; Clark, Richard ; Quail, Michael A. ; Beasley, Helen ; Glithero, Rebecca ; Lloyd, Christine ; Sims, Sarah ; Jones, Matthew C. ; Rogers, Jane ; Jiggins, Chris D. ; ffrench-Constant, Richard H.

In: Nature, 2011, p. -

Supergenes are tight clusters of loci that facilitate the co-segregation of adaptive variation, providing integrated control of complex adaptive phenotypes1. Polymorphic supergenes, in which specific combinations of traits are maintained within a single population, were first described for ‘pin’ and ‘thrum’ floral types in Primula1 and Fagopyrum2, but classic examples are also found in...