Projectdetails

The patterns of colour on the wings of Bicyclus anynana butterflies offer unique opportunities for an integrated experimental and theoretical analysis of the variation in complex traits: from the genetic and developmental mechanisms that generate morphological variation, to the ecological value and evolutionary change of variant morphologies. Abundant intra- and inter-specific variation in butterfly wing patterns is determined by genes of both large and subtle effect and by plasticity of wing patterning in relation to developmental environment. Phenotypic variation has been associated to sexual and natural selection, and, at the same time, linked to a number of well-studied genetic developmental pathways. Our integrated focus on the eyespots on the wings of B. anynana will enable us to explore the whole range of biological levels from genes, to gene networks, to development, to phenotype, to fitness. The collaboration proposed here will make use of distinct and specialized expertise available in the Leiden and Paris teams to lay the grounds for such a fascinating type of analyses. Knowledge about a number of specific genes and genetic pathways deployed in butterfly wing development (group of Paul Brakefield and Patrícia Beldade in Leiden), will be used to model the gene networks underlying these morphologies to be able to formally describe and predict patterns of variation (group of Michel Kerszberg in Paris). Extensive morphometric analysis of wing patterns within and across closely-related species (with Vincent Debat in Paris), and further genetic dissection of intra-specific variation will test such predictions and help to refine the model. Ultimately, we aim to have a deeper understanding of how genes interact with each other and the environment to produce morphologies that resist genetic and environmental perturbation and are simultaneously capable of adapting through phenotypic plasticity and/or evolutionary change.