Incomplete recombination suppression fuels extensive haplotype diversity in a butterfly colour pattern supergene.

ABSTRACT: Supergenes can evolve when recombination-suppressing mechanisms like inversions promote co-inheritance of alleles at two or more polymorphic loci that affect a complex trait. Theory shows that such genetic architectures can be favoured under balancing selection or local adaptation in the face of gene flow, but they can also bring costs associated with reduced opportunities for recombination. These costs may in turn be offset by rare 'gene flux' between inverted and ancestral haplotypes, with a range of possible outcomes. We aimed to shed light on these processes by investigating the 'BC supergene', a large genomic region comprising multiple rearrangements associated with three distinct wing colour morphs in Danaus chrysippus, a butterfly known as the African monarch, African queen and plai

SUBMITTER: De-Kayne R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11918383 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature