Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Regulatory changes in pterin and carotenoid genes underlie balanced color polymorphisms in the wall lizard

Andrade, Pedro ; Pinho, Catarina ; de Lanuza, Guillem Pérez i. ; Afonso, Sandra ; Brejcha, Jindrich ; Rubin, Carl Johan ; Wallerman, Ola ; Pereira, Paulo ; Sabatino, Stephen J. and Bellati, Adriana , et al. (2019) In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116(12). p.5633-5642
Abstract

Reptiles use pterin and carotenoid pigments to produce yellow, orange, and red colors. These conspicuous colors serve a diversity of signaling functions, but their molecular basis remains unresolved. Here, we show that the genomes of sympatric color morphs of the European common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), which differ in orange and yellow pigmentation and in their ecology and behavior, are virtually undifferentiated. Genetic differences are restricted to two small regulatory regions near genes associated with pterin [sepiapterin reductase (SPR)] and carotenoid [beta-carotene oxygenase 2 (BCO2)] metabolism, demonstrating that a core gene in the housekeeping pathway of pterin biosynthesis has been coopted for bright coloration in... (More)

Reptiles use pterin and carotenoid pigments to produce yellow, orange, and red colors. These conspicuous colors serve a diversity of signaling functions, but their molecular basis remains unresolved. Here, we show that the genomes of sympatric color morphs of the European common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), which differ in orange and yellow pigmentation and in their ecology and behavior, are virtually undifferentiated. Genetic differences are restricted to two small regulatory regions near genes associated with pterin [sepiapterin reductase (SPR)] and carotenoid [beta-carotene oxygenase 2 (BCO2)] metabolism, demonstrating that a core gene in the housekeeping pathway of pterin biosynthesis has been coopted for bright coloration in reptiles and indicating that these loci exert pleiotropic effects on other aspects of physiology. Pigmentation differences are explained by extremely divergent alleles, and haplotype analysis revealed abundant transspecific allele sharing with other lacertids exhibiting color polymorphisms. The evolution of these conspicuous color ornaments is the result of ancient genetic variation and cross-species hybridization.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Balanced polymorphism, Carotenoid pigmentation, Introgression, Podarcis muralis, Pterin pigmentation
in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
volume
116
issue
12
pages
5633 - 5642
publisher
National Academy of Sciences
external identifiers
  • scopus:85063253299
  • pmid:30819892
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1820320116
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
644e8803-fd7a-4202-a434-a0d61e1e9de5
date added to LUP
2019-04-05 14:23:44
date last changed
2024-06-12 10:33:28
@article{644e8803-fd7a-4202-a434-a0d61e1e9de5,
  abstract     = {{<p>Reptiles use pterin and carotenoid pigments to produce yellow, orange, and red colors. These conspicuous colors serve a diversity of signaling functions, but their molecular basis remains unresolved. Here, we show that the genomes of sympatric color morphs of the European common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), which differ in orange and yellow pigmentation and in their ecology and behavior, are virtually undifferentiated. Genetic differences are restricted to two small regulatory regions near genes associated with pterin [sepiapterin reductase (SPR)] and carotenoid [beta-carotene oxygenase 2 (BCO2)] metabolism, demonstrating that a core gene in the housekeeping pathway of pterin biosynthesis has been coopted for bright coloration in reptiles and indicating that these loci exert pleiotropic effects on other aspects of physiology. Pigmentation differences are explained by extremely divergent alleles, and haplotype analysis revealed abundant transspecific allele sharing with other lacertids exhibiting color polymorphisms. The evolution of these conspicuous color ornaments is the result of ancient genetic variation and cross-species hybridization.</p>}},
  author       = {{Andrade, Pedro and Pinho, Catarina and de Lanuza, Guillem Pérez i. and Afonso, Sandra and Brejcha, Jindrich and Rubin, Carl Johan and Wallerman, Ola and Pereira, Paulo and Sabatino, Stephen J. and Bellati, Adriana and Pellitteri-Rosa, Daniele and Bosakova, Zuzana and Bunikis, Ignas and Carretero, Miguel A. and Feiner, Nathalie and Marsik, Petr and Paupério, Francisco and Salvi, Daniele and Soler, Lucile and While, Geoffrey M. and Uller, Tobias and Font, Enrique and Andersson, Leif and Carneiro, Miguel}},
  issn         = {{0027-8424}},
  keywords     = {{Balanced polymorphism; Carotenoid pigmentation; Introgression; Podarcis muralis; Pterin pigmentation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{5633--5642}},
  publisher    = {{National Academy of Sciences}},
  series       = {{Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}},
  title        = {{Regulatory changes in pterin and carotenoid genes underlie balanced color polymorphisms in the wall lizard}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820320116}},
  doi          = {{10.1073/pnas.1820320116}},
  volume       = {{116}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}