Genome-wide regulatory adaptation shapes population-level genomic landscapes in Heliconius [RNA-seq]. Genome-wide regulatory adaptation shapes population-level genomic landscapes in Heliconius [RNA-seq]

We test the hypothesis that intraspecific genomic divergence is linked to regulatory variation between Heliconius butterfly populations. We show that population-level divergence in chromatin accessibility and regulatory activity during wing development is abundant, and that differences in regulatory activity between populations are strongly associated with developmental stage. Genomic regions with high Fst are highly enriched for regulatory variants, and enrichment patterns vary significantly across development. Regulatory variants are associated with most differential gene expression between populations, and our data point to two roles for histone modifications in the evolution of gene expression. Overall design: Examination of mRNA abundance in day 3 pupal wings.