2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Molecular basis of color pattern change and color polymorphism in dragonflies.
| Project/Area Number |
23780058
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
|
| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
|---|
| Research Field |
Applied entomology
|
|---|
| Research Institution | National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
FUTAHASHI Ryo 独立行政法人産業技術総合研究所, 生物プロセス研究部門, 主任研究員 (50549889)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2011 – 2013
|
| Keywords | トンボ / 体色変化 / 体色多型 / 色素 / 酸化還元反応 |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
Because dragonflies visually recognize conspecific and heterospecific individuals, their body color plays essential roles in their ecology and reproductive biology. Unlike most insects, some dragonflies change their body color dramatically upon sexual maturation. While many ecological and behavioral studies have been focused on this topic, molecular mechanisms underlying the color pattern formation have been poorly understood. I analyzed pigments and genes that are involved in the different color patterns in dragonflies. Notably, I found that sex-specific redox changes in ommochrome pigments cause the yellow-red color transition in some dragonflies, which unveils a previously unknown molecular mechanism underlying body color change in animals.
|
