Differential gene expression underlying the Papilio polytes alphenor mimicry switch. Papilio polytes

Development depends on the coordinated action of hundreds of genes across time and space, yet those same programs must also be able to change for new morphological traits to evolve. This dataset was generated to identify the gene expression differences underlying the evolution and development of mimetic color patterns in Papilio swallowtail butterflies. Papilio polytes and some its close relatives have evolved female-limited mimcry polymorphism in which males develop a single non-mimetic color pattern while females can develop a male-like pattern or one of several discrete mimetic patterns. The switch between female color patterns is controlled by alleles of the transcription factor doublesex. We used RNA-seq to identify differentially expressed between females that develop different color patterns, determined how they interact in a gene regulatory network, and performed functional tests of some genes on color pattern development. Our results showed that mimetic doublesex alleles cause large scale changes in the temporal and spatial expression patterns of thousands of genes, and provides novel insight into how those genes interact and evolve to produce these novel color patterns.