Genetic Modification of a Hox Locus Drives Mimetic Color Pattern Variation in a Highly Polymorphic Bumble Bee.

ABSTRACT: Müllerian mimicry provides natural replicates ideal for exploring mechanisms underlying adaptive phenotypic divergence and convergence, yet the genetic mechanisms underlying mimetic variation remain largely unknown. The current study investigates the genetic basis of mimetic color pattern variation in a highly polymorphic bumble bee, Bombus breviceps (Hymenoptera, Apidae). In South Asia, this species and multiple comimetic species converge onto local Müllerian mimicry patterns by shifting the abdominal setal color from orange to black. Genetic crossing between the orange and black phenotypes suggested the color dimorphism being controlled by a single Mendelian locus, with the orange allele being dominant over black. Genome-wide association suggests that a locus at the intergenic region bet

SUBMITTER: Yang W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10724181 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature