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1 November 2009 Local Pharmacological Effects of Tungstate on the Color-Pattern Determination of Butterfly Wings: A Possible Relationship Between the Eyespot and Parafocal Element
Bidur Dhungel, Joji M. Otaki
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Abstract

Butterfly wing color patterns can be changed by the application of a temperature shock or pharmacological agents such as tungstate, producing a distinctive type of elemental modification called the TS (temperature shock) type. Heterochronic uncoupling between the signaling and reception steps during the color-pattern determination process has been proposed as a mechanism for TS-type changes. As an extension of this hypothesis, both the parafocal element (PFE) and the eyespot in the same wing compartment are considered to be determined by morphogenic signal(s) emitted from the same eyespot focus. However, these models need to be examined with additional experimental data. Furthermore, there is controversy as to whether the action of tungstate on wing color patterns is direct or indirect. Using a species of nymphalid butterfly (Junonia orithya), we have devised a simple method for the local application of pharmacological agents directly on developing wings of pupae. Local tungstate application resulted in reduced eyespots and circular dislocated PFEs in the eyespot-less compartments only on the treated wing, demonstrating that tungstate directly induces color-pattern changes on wings. We further examined the eyespot-PFE relationship in normal and cold-shocked individuals, showing that an eyespot can be superimposed on a PFE and vice versa, probably depending on the timing of their fate determination. Taken together, we propose a two-morphogen model for the normal color-pattern determination, in which the morphogenic signals for the eyespot and PFE are different from each other despite their identical origin. This two-morphogen model is compatible with the heterochronic uncoupling model for TS-type changes.

© 2009 Zoological Society of Japan
Bidur Dhungel and Joji M. Otaki "Local Pharmacological Effects of Tungstate on the Color-Pattern Determination of Butterfly Wings: A Possible Relationship Between the Eyespot and Parafocal Element," Zoological Science 26(11), 758-764, (1 November 2009). https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.26.758
Received: 4 July 2009; Accepted: 3 August 2009; Published: 1 November 2009
KEYWORDS
butterfly wing
color-pattern determination
eyespot
heterochronic uncoupling
morphogen
parafocal element
sodium tungstate
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