Supplemental Material for Visual Contrast Modulates Maturation of Camouflage Body Patterning in Cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis)

Abstract The presence of various combinations of adjacent colors within polymorphic species’ color pattern could have a major impact on mate choice. We studied the role of pattern geometry in predicting mate choice in guppies using boundary strength analysis (BSA). BSA estimates the visual contrast intensity between two adjacent color patches (ΔS) weighted by the lengths of the boundaries between these adjacent color patches. We measured both the chromatic (hue and saturation) and achromatic (luminance) ΔS for each pair of adjacent patches. For each male’s color pattern, we measured BSA as both mean (mΔS) and coefficient of variation (cvΔS) of all ΔS weighted by their corresponding boundary lengths. We also determined if specific color patch boundaries had an impact on female preferences and whether these predicted overall male contrast (mΔS). We found that males with a higher mΔS were more attractive to females and that six boundaries containing either fuzzy black or black as one of the pair colors significantly affected female preferences, indicating that 1) females favored highly conspicuous males and 2) melanin-based patches could be used as a signal amplifier, not only for orange but for other colors.

Download Full-text

Ypsilon Schachtel, aDrosophilaY-box protein, acts antagonistically to Orb in theoskarmRNA localization and translation pathway

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.129.1.197 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 129 (1) ◽

pp. 197-209 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jennifer H. Mansfield ◽

James E. Wilhelm ◽

Tulle Hazelrigg

Keyword(s):

Subcellular Localization ◽

Essential Role ◽

Genetic Interaction ◽

Mrna Localization ◽

Rna Localization ◽

Essential Step ◽

Positive Regulator ◽

Body Patterning ◽

Translational Regulators

Subcellular localization of mRNAs within the Drosophila oocyte is an essential step in body patterning. Yps, a Drosophila Y-box protein, is a component of an ovarian ribonucleoprotein complex that also contains Exu, a protein that plays an essential role in mRNA localization. Y-box proteins are known translational regulators, suggesting that this complex might regulate translation as well as mRNA localization. Here we examine the role of the yps gene in these events. We show that yps interacts genetically with orb, a positive regulator of oskar mRNA localization and translation. The nature of the genetic interaction indicates that yps acts antagonistically to orb. We demonstrate that Orb protein is physically associated with both the Yps and Exu proteins, and that this interaction is mediated by RNA. We propose a model wherein Yps and Orb bind competitively to oskar mRNA with opposite effects on translation and RNA localization.

Download Full-text