Seasonal dynamics of mimicry alleles and the mechanisms maintaining mimicry polymorphism

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14603
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Ecology/Environment
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Sota Teiji 京都大学, 理学研究科, 教授 (00192625)
• Research Collaborator: KOMATA Shinya 京都大学, 大学院理学研究科 ; Lin Chung-Ping 台湾師範大学, 教授 ; FUJIWARA Haruhiko 東京大学, 大学院新領域創成科学研究科, 教授 ; IIJIMA Takuro 東京大学, 大学院新領域創成科学研究科
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: ベイツ型擬態 / 超遺伝子 / 遺伝的多型 / 多型維持機構 / 自然選択

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Papilio memnon exhibits a female-limited Batesian mimicry polymorphism, an intriguing system for investigating the maintenance of genetic polymorphisms: females display both mimetic and non-mimetic forms, whereas males are uniformly non-mimetic. This polymorphism is thought to be maintained by negative frequency-dependent predation, but no comprehensive investigations have been conducted. We identified two allelic sequences of the putative control gene, doublesex, that directly corresponded with the mimetic and non-mimetic female phenotypes in P. memnon. The mimetic allele of doublesex gene persisted at intermediate frequencies at a site in Taiwan, and an equivalent reproductive performance of the two forms over time suggested that negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) contributed to the mimicry polymorphism. In a laboratory test for physiological cost of mimetic genotypes, we found no evidence that physiological costs were associated with the mimetic genotypes.

Free Research Field

進化生態学