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Development, plasticity and evolution of butterfly eyespot patterns
- Paul M. Brakefield1,
- Julie Gates2,
- Dave Keys2,
- Fanja Kesbeke1,
- Pieter J. Wijngaarden1,
- Antónia Montelro1,3,
- Vernon French3 &
- …
- Sean B. Carroll2
Naturevolume 384, pages236–242 (1996)Cite this article
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Abstract
The developmental and genetic bases for the formation, plasticity and diversity of eyespot patterns in butterflies are examined. Eyespot pattern mutants, regulatory gene expression, and transplants of the eyespot developmental organizer demonstrate that eyespot position, number, size and colour are determined progressively in a developmental pathway largely uncoupled from those regulating other wing-pattern elements and body structures. Species comparisons and selection experiments suggest that the evolution of eyespot patterns can occur rapidly through modulation of different stages of this pathway, and requires only single, or very few, changes in regulatory genes.
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Authors and Affiliations
Institute of Evolutionary and Ecological Sciences, University of Leiden, Kaiserstraat 63, Postbus 9516, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
Paul M. Brakefield, Fanja Kesbeke, Pieter J. Wijngaarden & Antónia Montelro
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, 1525 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
Julie Gates, Dave Keys & Sean B. Carroll
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK
Antónia Montelro & Vernon French
- Paul M. Brakefield
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- Julie Gates
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- Dave Keys
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- Fanja Kesbeke
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- Pieter J. Wijngaarden
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- Antónia Montelro
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- Vernon French
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- Sean B. Carroll
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Brakefield, P., Gates, J., Keys, D.et al. Development, plasticity and evolution of butterfly eyespot patterns.Nature384, 236–242 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/384236a0
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