Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Science. 2011 May 20;332(6032):958-60. doi: 10.1126/science.1203043. Epub 2011 Apr 14.
The rapid spread of a novel black form (known as carbonaria) of the peppered moth Biston betularia in 19th-century Britain is a textbook example of how an altered environment may produce morphological adaptation through genetic change. However, the underlying genetic basis of the difference between the wild-type (light-colored) and carbonaria forms has remained unknown. We have genetically mapped the carbonaria morph to a 200-kilobase region orthologous to a segment of silkworm chromosome 17 and show that there is only one core sequence variant associated with the carbonaria morph, carrying a signature of recent strong selection. The carbonaria region coincides with major wing-patterning loci in other lepidopteran systems, suggesting the existence of basal color-patterning regulators in this region.
19 世纪，英国一种新型的黑化型（被称为 carbonaria）胡椒蛾 Biston betularia 迅速传播，这是一个环境变化如何通过遗传改变产生形态适应的典型例子。然而，野生型（浅色）和 carbonaria 型之间差异的潜在遗传基础仍然未知。我们已经将 carbonaria 形态遗传定位到与蚕 17 号染色体同源的 200 千碱基区域，并表明与 carbonaria 形态相关的只有一个核心序列变异，携带近期强烈选择的特征。carbonaria 区域与其他鳞翅目系统中的主要翅膀图案基因座重合，表明该区域存在基本的颜色图案调控因子。
