Stolz Uwe, Velez Sebastian, Wood Keith V, Wood Monika, Feder Jeffrey L
Department of Biological Sciences, P.O. Box 369, Galvin Life Science Center, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556-0369, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Dec 9;100(25):14955-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2432563100. Epub 2003 Nov 17.
The Jamaican click beetle Pyrophorus plagiophthalamus (Coleoptera: Elateridae) is unique among all bioluminescent organisms in displaying a striking light color polymorphism [Biggley, W. H., Lloyd, J. E. & Seliger, H. H. (1967) J. Gen. Physiol. 50, 1681-1692]. Beetles on the island vary in the color of their ventral light organs from yellow-green to orange and their dorsal organs from green to yellow-green. The genetic basis for the color variation involves specific amino acid substitutions in the enzyme luciferase. Here, we show that dorsal and ventral light color in P. plagiophthalamus are under separate genetic control, we resolve the allelic basis for color variation, and, through analyses of luciferase sequence variation, we demonstrate that natural selection has produced a long-term adaptive trend for longer wavelength (more orange) ventral light on Jamaica. Our results constitute a novel example connecting the selective fixation of specific nucleotides in nature to their precisely determined phenotypic effects. We also present evidence suggesting that a recently derived ventral orange luciferase allele on the island has deterministically increased in frequency. Thus, the current luciferase polymorphism for P. plagiophthalamus appears to be mirroring the long-term anagenic trend on Jamaica, revealing a possible ongoing adaptive color transition in progress.
牙买加叩甲Pyrophorus plagiophthalamus（鞘翅目：叩甲科）在所有生物发光生物中独一无二，呈现出显著的光颜色多态性[比格利，W. H.，劳埃德，J. E. & 塞利格，H. H.（1967年）《普通生理学杂志》50卷，1681 - 1692页]。该岛上的甲虫腹侧发光器官颜色从黄绿色到橙色不等，背侧器官颜色从绿色到黄绿色。颜色变化的遗传基础涉及荧光素酶中特定的氨基酸替换。在这里，我们表明P. plagiophthalamus的背侧和腹侧光颜色受独立的遗传控制，我们解析了颜色变化的等位基因基础，并且，通过对荧光素酶序列变异的分析，我们证明自然选择在牙买加产生了腹侧光向更长波长（更橙色）发展的长期适应性趋势。我们的结果构成了一个将自然界中特定核苷酸的选择性固定与其精确确定的表型效应联系起来的新例子。我们还提供了证据表明该岛上最近衍生的腹侧橙色荧光素酶等位基因频率确定性地增加了。因此，P. plagiophthalamus目前的荧光素酶多态性似乎反映了牙买加的长期前进演化趋势，揭示了一个可能正在进行的适应性颜色转变。
