Data from: Convergent evolution of cytochrome P450s underlies independent origins of keto-carotenoid pigmentation in animals

Keto-carotenoids contribute to many important traits in animals, including
vision and coloration. In a great number of animal species,
keto-carotenoids are endogenously produced from carotenoids by carotenoid
ketolases. Despite the ubiquity and functional importance of
keto-carotenoids in animals, the underlying genetic architectures of their
production have remained enigmatic. The body and eye colorations of spider
mites (Arthropoda: Chelicerata) are determined by β-carotene and
keto-carotenoid derivatives. Here, we focus on a carotenoid pigment mutant
of the spider mite Tetranychus kanzawai that, as shown by chromatography,
lost the ability to produce keto-carotenoids. We employed bulked segregant
analysis and linked the causal locus to a single narrow genomic interval.
The causal mutation was fine-mapped to a minimal candidate region that
held only one complete gene, the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase CYP384A1,
of the CYP3 clan. Using a number of genomic approaches, we revealed that
an inactivating deletion in the fourth exon of CYP384A1 caused the
aberrant pigmentation. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that CYP384A1 is
orthologous across mite species of the ancient Trombidiformes order where
carotenoids typify eye and body coloration, suggesting a deeply conserved
function of CYP384A1 as a carotenoid ketolase. Previously, CYP2J19, a
cytochrome P450 of the CYP2 clan, has been identified as a carotenoid
ketolase in birds and turtles. Our study shows that selection for
endogenous production of keto-carotenoids led to convergent evolution
whereby cytochrome P450s were independently co-opted in vertebrate and
invertebrate animal lineages.