WntGenes in Wing Pattern Development of Coliadinae Butterflies

Wntgenes are major developmental genes highly conserved across all animals. Yet, our understanding of theWntgene repertoire and their functions is still largely incomplete. In Lepidoptera, Wnt genes have been implicated in wing pattern development. For example,WntAhas been shown as a driver of wing pattern diversification in nymphalid butterflies. In this study, we characterize theWntgene repertoire inZerene cesonia(Family: Pieridae), which diverged from nymphalids similar to 51 million years ago, to determine ifWntgenes may have a conserved role in wing development across distant butterfly lineages. We first show thatWntgene content is highly conserved across butterflies, but that there is strikingly different expression across the eightWntgenes during wing development ofZ. cesoniaand nymphalid butterflies. Surprisingly, while fourWntgenes (Wnt1,6,7, and11) are expressed during wing development inZ. cesonia, the renown nymphalid wing patterning geneWntAwas undetected. However, despite the differences inWntgene expression, Heparin injections yielded a similar disruption in wing color pattern development in bothZ. cesoniaand nymphalid butterflies. Interestingly, these assays also resulted in the loss of structurally based ultraviolet (UV) wing patterns inZ. cesonia. Collectively, the study shows that pierids maintained the highly conserved nature ofWntgene content in Lepidoptera, but might deploy these genes very differently from nymphalid butterflies during wing pattern development.