What Makes a Mimic? Orange, Red, and Black Color Production in the Mimic Poison Frog (Ranitomeya imitator)

Author:

Rubio Andrew O12ORCID,Stuckert Adam M M2,Geralds BreAnn13,Nielsen Rasmus4ORCID,MacManes Matthew D5,Summers Kyle1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Biology, East Carolina University , Greenville, NC 27858 , USA

2. Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston , Houston, TX 77204 , USA

3. School of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University , Carbondale, IL 62901 , USA

4. Department of Integrative Biology, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720 , USA

5. Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire , Durham, NH 03824 , USA

Abstract

Abstract Aposematic organisms rely on their conspicuous appearance to signal that they are defended and unpalatable. Such phenotypes are strongly tied to survival and reproduction. Aposematic colors and patterns are highly variable; however, the genetic, biochemical, and physiological mechanisms producing this conspicuous coloration remain largely unidentified. Here, we identify genes potentially affecting color variation in two color morphs of Ranitomeya imitator: the orange-banded Sauce and the redheaded Varadero morphs. We examine gene expression in black and orange skin patches from the Sauce morph and black and red skin patches from the Varadero morph. We identified genes differentially expressed between skin patches, including those that are involved in melanin synthesis (e.g. mlana, pmel, tyrp1), iridophore development (e.g. paics, ppat, ak1), pteridine synthesis (e.g. gch1, pax3-a, xdh), and carotenoid metabolism (e.g. dgat2, rbp1, scarb2). In addition, using weighted correlation network analysis, we identified the top 50 genes with high connectivity from the most significant network associated with gene expression differences between color morphs. Of these 50 genes, 13 were known to be related to color production (gch1, gmps, gpr143, impdh1, mc1r, pax3-a, pax7, ppat, rab27a, rlbp1, tfec, trpm1, xdh).

Funder

National Science Foundation

East Carolina University Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Advancement Council Distinguished

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

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