A single locus regulates a female-limited color pattern polymorphism in a reptile

• Published in: Science advances Vol. 8; no. 10; p. eabm2387
• Main Authors: Feiner, Nathalie, Brun-Usan, Miguel, Andrade, Pedro, Pranter, Robin, Park, Sungdae, Menke, Douglas B, Geneva, Anthony J, Uller, Tobias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 11-03-2022
• Subjects: Biologi; Biological Sciences; Ecology; Ekologi; Evolutionary Biology; Evolutionsbiologi; Natural Sciences; Naturvetenskap
• ISSN: 2375-2548; 2375-2548
• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm2387

Animal coloration is often expressed in periodic patterns that can arise from differential cell migration, yet how these processes are regulated remains elusive. We show that a female-limited polymorphism in dorsal patterning (diamond/chevron) in the brown anole is controlled by a single Mendelian locus. This locus contains the gene
that is adjacent to, and coexpressed with, the
gene, explaining why the polymorphism is female limited.
is an organizer of the Golgi-microtubule network underlying a cell's ability to migrate, and the two segregating alleles encode structurally different proteins. Our agent-based modeling of skin development demonstrates that, in principle, a change in cell migratory behaviors is sufficient to switch between the two morphs. These results suggest that
might have been co-opted as a switch between color patterning morphs, likely by modulating cell migratory behaviors.