Evolution of compound eye cell types shapes visual behaviors across Heliconius butterflies [microC]

ABSTRACT: The evolution of visual systems is tightly linked to the diversification of visually guided behaviors. Heliconius butterflies, renowned for their diverse wing color patterns and complex visual behaviors such as mate choice, provide an ideal system to study this process. Here, we investigate the evolution of compound eye cell types and their association with visual behavioral loci across species spanning a complete speciation continuum, from a polymorphic population to reproductively isolated species. By integrating population genomics, chromatin conformation capture, and single-cell transcriptomics, we uncover the multi-modal mechanisms driving visual system evolution. Within a single population polymorphic for mate preference, we characterize the cis-regulatory landscape of a 1 Mb mate preference locus and identify senseless-2 as a glia-expressing candidate preference gene. Extending to cross-species comparisons, we demonstrate that visual system evolution is shaped not only by transcriptomic divergence but also by cellular compositional shifts. Furthermore, we reveal that photoreceptors, particularly the color-sensing R7, exhibit significantly accelerated rates of gene expression evolution compared to downstream neurons and glia. Indeed, we characterize novel R2/5 and R7 photoreceptor subtypes, showing that cellular subfunctionalization can arise through the co-option of existing gene regulatory networks. Together, our comparative single-cell analysis of compound eyes across multiple species provides a unifying framework that bridges microevolutionary transcriptomic divergence with macroevolutionary cellular innovations.

ORGANISM(S): Heliconius cydno alithea

PROVIDER: GSE330237 | GEO | 2026/09/24

REPOSITORIES: GEO