Repeated genetic adaptation to altitude in two tropical butterflies

Repeated evolution can provide insight into the mechanisms that facilitate adaptation to novel or changing environments. Here we study adaptation to altitude in two tropical butterflies, Heliconius erato and H. melpomene, which have repeatedly and independently adapted to montane habitats on either...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Montejo Kovacevich, Gabriela, Meier, Joana I., Bacquet Pérez, Caroline Nicole, Warren, Ian A., Frank Chan, Yingguang, Kucka, Marek, Salazar, Camilo, Rueda M, Nicol, Montgomery, Stephen H., McMillan W., Owen, Kozak, Krzysztof M., Nicola J., Nadeau, Martin, Simon H., Jiggins, Chris D.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:Ecuador
Institución:Universidad Regional Amazónica
Repositorio:Repositorio Universidad Regional Amazónica
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.ikiam.edu.ec:RD_IKIAM/596
Acceso en línea:http://repositorio.ikiam.edu.ec/jspui/handle/RD_IKIAM/596
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Tropical butterflies
Repeated genetic
Heliconius erato
species
Descripción
Sumario:Repeated evolution can provide insight into the mechanisms that facilitate adaptation to novel or changing environments. Here we study adaptation to altitude in two tropical butterflies, Heliconius erato and H. melpomene, which have repeatedly and independently adapted to montane habitats on either side of the Andes. We sequenced 518 whole genomes from altitudinal transects and found many regions differentiated between highland (~ 1200 m) and lowland (~ 200 m) populations. We show repeated genetic differentiation across replicate populations within species, including allopatric comparisons. In contrast, there is little molecular parallelism between the two species. By sampling five close relatives, we find that a large proportion of divergent regions identified within species have arisen from standing variation and putative adaptive introgression from high-altitude specialist species. Taken together our study supports a role for both standing genetic variation and gene flow from independently adapted species in promoting parallel local adaptation to the environment.