Fferences in the effect of Hh signaling on wing development and Mirin eyespot development in these two nymphalid butterfly species. Our study shows that hh maintains its role in promoting wing growth in butterflies, as it does in D. melanogaster, and that hh acquired a novel functional role in promoting eyespot development in some butterflies, but not in others. We also note that Hh signaling may have had a more generalized effect on tissue growth, beyond wing growth, which was not documented here. The presence of Hh signaling in J. coenia eyespot development but the absence of such signaling in B. anynana requires interpretation from both a mechanistic as well as an evolutionary perspective, i.e., what these differences represent in terms of the proposed recruited circuit and how they could come about in evolution. Originally, the Hh circuit involved in specifying the anterior-posterior wing axis (including hh, the Hh receptor ptc, the signal transducer ci, and the target gene en) were proposed to have been co-opted, as a unit, to help build the novel eyespot geneHedgehog’s Role in Wing and Eyespot Developmentregulatory network [8]. All members of this circuit are present in J. coenia butterflies, whereas two of the members are missing in B. anynana (hh and ptc; [9]). In addition, as shown here, disrupting Hh signaling in B. anynana does not affect eyespot development. Given these data, it is particularly intriguing that En is being expressed at high levels in the eyespot centers in B. anynana, when the gene proposed to activate its transcription (hh) is missing. Several explanations for this observation are possible. First, a different member of the Hh family of proteins may activate en transcription in B. anynana. Presence of additional Hh family members can be tested once the completed B. anynana genome becomes available. In arthropods, however, only a single hh copy is currently known [37]. Second, en transcription in B. anynana eyespot centers (and possibly also in J. coenia), is being activated by transcription factors unconnected to the Hh signaling pathway. Note that our semiquantitative PCR experiment cannot distinguish which domains of en/inv expression on the wing were actually targeted by the 5E1 antibody injections. It is likely that the lower levels of en/inv expression observed following Hh signal inhibition result primarily from the response of cells localized in the posterior compartment of the wing in both species, because this domain is much larger and is also the domain known to be under the control of Hh signaling in D. melanogaster wings [28]. If en/inv transcription in eyespots is being activated by transcription factors unconnected to the Hh signaling pathway, then either the gene circuit Octapressin chemical information co-opted for eyespot development is different from the one proposed by Keys et al. [8], or the co-opted circuit replaced some of its members in the B. anynana lineage but not in the lineage leading to J. coenia. A broader phylogenetic sampling of multiple species for presence and absence of hh and ptc expression is required to clarify when these genes became associated with eyespots during evolutionary history and to elucidate how and when differential hh expression emerged between B. anynana and J. coenia. Recent comparative gene expression data across 21 nymphalid species and two outgroups showed that the origin of expression of four genes in the eyespot centers (including en) happened in a very basal branch of the nymphalid tree,.Fferences in the effect of Hh signaling on wing development and eyespot development in these two nymphalid butterfly species. Our study shows that hh maintains its role in promoting wing growth in butterflies, as it does in D. melanogaster, and that hh acquired a novel functional role in promoting eyespot development in some butterflies, but not in others. We also note that Hh signaling may have had a more generalized effect on tissue growth, beyond wing growth, which was not documented here. The presence of Hh signaling in J. coenia eyespot development but the absence of such signaling in B. anynana requires interpretation from both a mechanistic as well as an evolutionary perspective, i.e., what these differences represent in terms of the proposed recruited circuit and how they could come about in evolution. Originally, the Hh circuit involved in specifying the anterior-posterior wing axis (including hh, the Hh receptor ptc, the signal transducer ci, and the target gene en) were proposed to have been co-opted, as a unit, to help build the novel eyespot geneHedgehog’s Role in Wing and Eyespot Developmentregulatory network [8]. All members of this circuit are present in J. coenia butterflies, whereas two of the members are missing in B. anynana (hh and ptc; [9]). In addition, as shown here, disrupting Hh signaling in B. anynana does not affect eyespot development. Given these data, it is particularly intriguing that En is being expressed at high levels in the eyespot centers in B. anynana, when the gene proposed to activate its transcription (hh) is missing. Several explanations for this observation are possible. First, a different member of the Hh family of proteins may activate en transcription in B. anynana. Presence of additional Hh family members can be tested once the completed B. anynana genome becomes available. In arthropods, however, only a single hh copy is currently known [37]. Second, en transcription in B. anynana eyespot centers (and possibly also in J. coenia), is being activated by transcription factors unconnected to the Hh signaling pathway. Note that our semiquantitative PCR experiment cannot distinguish which domains of en/inv expression on the wing were actually targeted by the 5E1 antibody injections. It is likely that the lower levels of en/inv expression observed following Hh signal inhibition result primarily from the response of cells localized in the posterior compartment of the wing in both species, because this domain is much larger and is also the domain known to be under the control of Hh signaling in D. melanogaster wings [28]. If en/inv transcription in eyespots is being activated by transcription factors unconnected to the Hh signaling pathway, then either the gene circuit co-opted for eyespot development is different from the one proposed by Keys et al. [8], or the co-opted circuit replaced some of its members in the B. anynana lineage but not in the lineage leading to J. coenia. A broader phylogenetic sampling of multiple species for presence and absence of hh and ptc expression is required to clarify when these genes became associated with eyespots during evolutionary history and to elucidate how and when differential hh expression emerged between B. anynana and J. coenia. Recent comparative gene expression data across 21 nymphalid species and two outgroups showed that the origin of expression of four genes in the eyespot centers (including en) happened in a very basal branch of the nymphalid tree,.
