School of Ecology and Environment, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China.
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China.
Zool Res. 2021 Sep 18;42(5):614-619. doi: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2021.117.
Butterflies are diverse in virtually all aspects of their ontogeny, including morphology, life history, and behavior. However, the developmental regulatory mechanisms underlying the important phenotypic traits of butterflies at different developmental stages remain unknown. Here, we investigated the developmental regulatory profiles of butterflies based on transposase accessible chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq) at three developmental stages in two representative species ( and ). Results indicated that 15%-47% of open chromatin peaks appeared in associated genes located 3 kb upstream (i.e., promoter region) of their transcription start site (TSS). Comparative analysis of the different developmental stages indicated that chromatin accessibility is a dynamic process and associated genes with differentially accessible (DA) peaks show functions corresponding to their phenotypic traits. Interestingly, the black color pattern in 4th instar larvae may be attributed to promoter peak-related genes involved in the melanogenesis pathway. Furthermore, many longevity genes in 5th instar larvae and pupae showed open peaks 3 kb upstream of their TSS, which may contribute to the overwintering diapause observed in adults. Combined with RNA-seq analysis, our data demonstrated that several genes enriched in the melanogenesis and longevity pathways also exhibit higher expression, confirming that the expression of genes may be closely related to their phenotypic traits. This study offers new insights into larval cuticle color and adult longevity in butterflies and provides a resource for investigating the developmental regulatory mechanisms underlying butterfly ontogeny.
蝴蝶在其个体发生的各个方面都具有多样性，包括形态、生活史和行为。然而，不同发育阶段蝴蝶重要表型特征背后的发育调控机制尚不清楚。在这里，我们基于转座酶可及染色质测序（ATAC-seq）在两个代表性物种（ 和 ）的三个发育阶段研究了蝴蝶的发育调控图谱。结果表明，15%-47%的开放染色质峰出现在其转录起始位点（TSS）上游 3 kb 处（即启动子区域）的相关基因中。不同发育阶段的比较分析表明，染色质可及性是一个动态过程，具有差异可及（DA）峰的相关基因具有与其表型特征相对应的功能。有趣的是， 4 龄幼虫的黑色图案可能归因于参与黑色素生成途径的与启动子峰相关的基因。此外， 5 龄幼虫和蛹中的许多长寿基因在其 TSS 上游 3 kb 处显示出开放峰，这可能有助于成年 中观察到的越冬滞育。结合 RNA-seq 分析，我们的数据表明，在黑色素生成和长寿途径中富集的几个基因也表现出更高的表达，这证实了基因的表达可能与其表型特征密切相关。这项研究为蝴蝶幼虫表皮颜色和成虫寿命提供了新的见解，并为研究蝴蝶个体发生背后的发育调控机制提供了资源。
