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The pigments and fine structure of the butterfly wing scales work together to create a mosaic of colors and patterns that help the insect to camouflage or attract partners. On July 3, in the review Cell Reports scientists show how it takes just a few pigment genes to alter both the color and morphology of wing scales. The researchers used CRISPR / Cas9 to alter the colors of the brown butterfly wings of East Africa Bicyclus anynana and found that it resulted in changes in surface structure and stiffness as well as in color. The results show how the pigmentation genes have a dual role in the formation of dander.
"Our research indicates that the color and structure of wing scales are closely related because pigment molecules also affect the structure of scales," says Antónia Monteiro, a biologist at the Faculty of Science at the National University of Singapore and Yale-NUS. College in Singapore. "Some end products of the melanic pathway, which produces butterfly wing pigments, play a role in scale pigmentation and scale morphology."
Postdoctoralist Yuji Matsuoka artificially deactivated five B. anynana genes. how each contributed to the color of the butterfly's wing. Surprisingly, the mutations also changed the details of the scale structure of the wings. When a mutation prevented the formation of dopa-melanin pigment, an additional sheet of chitin, a fibrous component of the exoskeleton, formed horizontally on the upper surface of the alar scale. And when a different mutation blocked the dopamine-melanin pigment, vertical chitin slides appeared.
"Some butterflies can have bright hues simply by having thin chitin films on their scales that interfere with the incoming light colors without producing corresponding pigments," says Monteiro. "The light beams reflected off the top and bottom surfaces. bottom of the chitin layer can interfere with each other and accentuate the specific colors depending on the thickness of the film, so our results could be interesting in this context. "
The colors and patterns of the wing are essential for butterflies to hide predators and signal potential partners; If mutations introduced in the laboratory occur naturally, they could compromise the survival and reproduction of insects. "The color of the butterfly has always been described as pigmentary or structural, but our work identifies the first candidate genes that can constrain the evolution of these two forms of color generator," Monteiro says.
"The morphology of the divergent, however, genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying the development of wing scales of butterflies have just been studied, and melanins are one of many molecules likely to play a role in this process, "says Matsuoka." Other studies using other species of butterflies and other cuticular components will help us better understand the evolution and development of scales. " papillaries. "
"If we understand the genetics of color development, the biotechnology companies of the future may be able to generate bright, brilliant colors via bioengineering, based on butterfly scales, rather than making them nanometrically. hard to do, "says Monteiro. "These chitin-based colors would be durable, biodegradable and environmentally friendly."
Learn more:
Biologists discover a gene responsible for the unique appearance of the dorsal wings of butterflies
More information:
Cell Reports Matsuoka & Monteiro: "Melanin pathway genes regulate the color and morphology of butterfly wing scales" www.cell.com/ cell-reports / full … 2211-1247 (18) 30873-8
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