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Divergence of chemosensing during the early stages of speciation.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

van Schooten, Bas 
Meléndez-Rosa, Jesyka 
Van Belleghem, Steven M 
Jiggins, Chris D 
Tan, John D 

Abstract

Chemosensory communication is essential to insect biology, playing indispensable roles during mate-finding, foraging, and oviposition behaviors. These traits are particularly important during speciation, where chemical perception may serve to establish species barriers. However, identifying genes associated with such complex behavioral traits remains a significant challenge. Through a combination of transcriptomic and genomic approaches, we characterize the genetic architecture of chemoperception and the role of chemosensing during speciation for a young species pair of Heliconius butterflies, Heliconius melpomene and Heliconius cydno We provide a detailed description of chemosensory gene-expression profiles as they relate to sensory tissue (antennae, legs, and mouthparts), sex (male and female), and life stage (unmated and mated female butterflies). Our results untangle the potential role of chemical communication in establishing barriers during speciation and identify strong candidate genes for mate and host plant choice behaviors. Of the 252 chemosensory genes, HmOBP20 (involved in volatile detection) and HmGr56 (a putative synephrine-related receptor) emerge as strong candidates for divergence in pheromone detection and host plant discrimination, respectively. These two genes are not physically linked to wing-color pattern loci or other genomic regions associated with visual mate preference. Altogether, our results provide evidence for chemosensory divergence between H. melpomene and H. cydno, two rarely hybridizing butterflies with distinct mate and host plant preferences, a finding that supports a polygenic architecture of species boundaries.

Description

Keywords

Lepidoptera, butterfly, smell, speciation, taste

Journal Title

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0027-8424
1091-6490

Volume Title

117

Publisher

National Academy of Sciences
Sponsorship
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/R007500/1)