Genetic Modification of a Hox Locus Drives Mimetic Color Pattern Variation in a Highly Polymorphic Bumble Bee

Mullerian mimicry provides natural replicates ideal for exploring mechanisms underlying adaptive phenotypic divergence and convergence, yet the genetic mechanisms underlying mimetic variation remain largely unknown. The current study investigates the genetic basis of mimetic color pattern variation in a highly polymorphic bumble bee, Bombus breviceps (Hymenoptera, Apidae). In South Asia, this species and multiple comimetic species converge onto local Mullerian mimicry patterns by shifting the abdominal setal color from orange to black. Genetic crossing between the orange and black phenotypes suggested the color dimorphism being controlled by a single Mendelian locus, with the orange allele being dominant over black. Genome-wide association suggests that a locus at the intergenic region between 2 abdominal fate-determining Hox genes, abd-A and Abd-B, is associated with the color change. This locus is therefore in the same intergenic region but not the same exact locus as found to drive red black midabdominal variation in a distantly related bumble bee species, Bombus melanopygus. Gene expression analysis and RNA interferences suggest that differential expression of an intergenic long noncoding RNA between abd-A and Abd-B at the onset setal color differentiation may drive the orange black color variation by causing a homeotic shift late in development. Analysis of this same color locus in comimetic species reveals no sequence association with the same color shift, suggesting that mimetic convergence is achieved through distinct genetic routes. Our study establishes Hox regions as genomic hotspots for color pattern evolution in bumble bees and demonstrates how pleiotropic developmental loci can drive adaptive radiations in nature.

Automated summary

Mullerian mimicry has been studied to explore the genetic mechanisms underlying adaptive phenotypic divergence and convergence. This study investigates the genetic basis of mimetic color pattern variation in a highly polymorphic bumble bee species. The results suggest that the color dimorphism is controlled by a single Mendelian locus located at the intergenic region between two Hox genes. Gene expression analysis suggests that a differential expression of an intergenic long noncoding RNA may drive the color variation late in development. The study also reveals that mimetic convergence is achieved through distinct genetic routes.