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An international consortium of researchers at UC Irvine andelsewhere discovered that different species of the Heliconiusbutterfly are crossbreeding to more quickly acquire superior wingcolors. They also have a surprisingly large number of genes devotedto smell and taste. The use of color to attract mates and fend off predators iswidespread in daytime-loving butterflies, while night-flying mothsare famous for having large antennae to sniff out potential mates'pheromones. Thus, researchers predicted that because they're suchvisual creatures, the butterflies would not be able to smell ortaste very well. "Instead, we learned that they have a rich repertoire of genesfor olfaction [smell] and chemosensation [in this casetaste]," said UCI biologist and article co-author AdrianaBriscoe. Delicate antennae contain smell receptors, she explained, and thebutterflies' tiny feet hold taste buds. Briscoe said additional findings by the consortium could helpscientists better understand trait sharing in other species, suchas Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. As part of the international effort, researchers first sequencedthe genome of the Postman butterfly (Heliconius melpomene), awell-known species whose caterpillars feast on passion fruit vinesin the Peruvian Amazon. They then examined the genetic makeup oftwo closely related species -- Heliconius timareta and Heliconiuselevatus -- all of which sport similar color patterns on theirwings to ward off predators. The genetic sharing among species, scientists believe, is theresult of hybridization. Considered extremely rare, hybridizationoccurs when members of different species interbreed in the wild.Though often seen as an evolutionary dead end, hybrids are able tointerbreed with other species, in the process introducing new genesthat can help populations adapt to new or changing environments. "What we show is that one butterfly species can gain itsprotective color pattern genes ready-made from a different speciesby interbreeding with it -- a much faster process than having toevolve one's color patterns from scratch," said co-authorKanchon Dasmahapatra, a postdoctoral researcher at UniversityCollege London. The paper was produced by researchers in the U.S., Central America,South America and Great Britain -- dubbed the Heliconius GenomeConsortium -- who took on the task of sequencing the butterfly'sgenome, consisting of about 295 million DNA base pairs. More than 80 scientists from nine labs around the world helped fundthe effort, eliminating the need for major grant support. Briscoe'sportion was funded by the National Science Foundation. Besides Briscoe, UCI co-authors were James Lewis, Arnaud Martin,Furong Yuan and Robert Reed, The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Diode Laser Hair Removal Machine Manufacturer , China IPL Laser Machine, and more. For more , please visit Laser Beauty Machine today!
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