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Peer-reviewedCC BYProceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

araucan regulates butterfly wing iridescence by coordinating scale structure and pigmentation

  • Martik Chatterjee1
  • Cédric Finet
  • Kate J. Siegel1
  • Shen Tian
  • Yifei Zhou
  • ling shen loh2
  • Xin Yi YU
  • seydeanna delgado
  • Jeanne M.C. McDonald1
  • Eirene Markenscoff-Papadimitriou
  • Anyi Mazo‐Vargas
  • Antónia Monteiro
1 more authors
  • Robert D. Reed1
  1. 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY,14853
  2. 2Department of Biological Sciences, Colombian College of Arts and Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, D.C, 20052
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Abstract

Butterfly wings exhibit a remarkable diversity of structural iridescent colours, yet the genetic regulation of iridescence remains poorly understood. Here, we show that the Iroquois-complex transcription factor gene araucan plays a role in modulating wing scale iridescence in the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia. Using CRISPR-Cas9 knockouts, we demonstrate that loss of araucan function causes dorsal wing scales to shift from golden-brown to blue iridescence, and eyespot centre scales to shift from saturated purple-violet to dull grey-brown. These phenotypes are associated with increased lower lamina thickness (LL) in dorsal cover scales and decreased LL in eyespot-centre cover and ground scales, effects known to influence thin-film interference iridescence, along with reduced pigmentation in eyespot ground scales. Together, these results identify araucan as a single transcription factor that determines colouration by simultaneously regulating both photonic architecture and light-absorbing pigmentation and show that these effects can be regulated in a pattern-specific manner. Our findings provide a framework for linking gene regulation to the spatially coordinated evolution of structural and pigmentary components of colour.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{chatterjee2026araucan,
  title = {{araucan regulates butterfly wing iridescence by coordinating scale structure and pigmentation}},
  author = {Martik Chatterjee and Cédric Finet and Kate J. Siegel and Shen Tian and Yifei Zhou and ling shen loh and Xin Yi YU and seydeanna delgado and Jeanne M.C. McDonald and Eirene Markenscoff-Papadimitriou and Anyi Mazo‐Vargas and Antónia Monteiro and Robert D. Reed},
  journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  doi = {10.1098/rspb.2025.2984},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.2984},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - araucan regulates butterfly wing iridescence by coordinating scale structure and pigmentation
AU  - Martik Chatterjee
AU  - Cédric Finet
AU  - Kate J. Siegel
AU  - Shen Tian
AU  - Yifei Zhou
AU  - ling shen loh
AU  - Xin Yi YU
AU  - seydeanna delgado
AU  - Jeanne M.C. McDonald
AU  - Eirene Markenscoff-Papadimitriou
AU  - Anyi Mazo‐Vargas
AU  - Antónia Monteiro
AU  - Robert D. Reed
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/13
JO  - Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
DO  - 10.1098/rspb.2025.2984
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.2984
AB  - Butterfly wings exhibit a remarkable diversity of structural iridescent colours, yet the genetic regulation of iridescence remains poorly understood. Here, we show that the Iroquois-complex transcription factor gene araucan plays a role in modulating wing scale iridescence in the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia. Using CRISPR-Cas9 knockouts, we demonstrate that loss of araucan function causes dorsal wing scales to shift from golden-brown to blue iridescence, and eyespot centre scales to shift from saturated purple-violet to dull grey-brown. These phenotypes are associated with increased lower lamina thickness (LL) in dorsal cover scales and decreased LL in eyespot-centre cover and ground scales, effects known to influence thin-film interference iridescence, along with reduced pigmentation in eyespot ground scales. Together, these results identify araucan as a single transcription factor that determines colouration by simultaneously regulating both photonic architecture and light-absorbing pigmentation and show that these effects can be regulated in a pattern-specific manner. Our findings provide a framework for linking gene regulation to the spatially coordinated evolution of structural and pigmentary components of colour.
SN  - 0080-4649
SN  - 0962-8452
SN  - 1471-2954
SN  - 2053-9193
ER  -