nubbin , ventral veinless , and pdm3 play diverse roles in butterfly wing pattern development
Abstract
Butterfly wings present a tremendous gallery of colorful patterns, offering a unique opportunity to study how developmental pattern formation processes evolve. We still do not understand the genetic basis of several key aspects of wing pattern development, however. Three paralogous POU domain transcription factors nubbin, ventral veinless ( vvl ), and pdm3 are all known wing development genes in Drosophila melanogaster . Here we combine gene expression and knockout approaches to show that each of these genes plays multiple novel wing patterning roles in the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia . We found that nubbin controls eyespot pattern determination via a non-cell autonomous repressor-like effect originating at the wing veins, such that nubbin knockouts have larger eyespots. nubbin also regulates pigment identity and scale morphology across the wing. We also found that vvl regulates pigment identity of the discal bands and ventral hindwing. Last, we found that pdm3 is required for determining the outer rings of eyespot patterns, where it is co-expressed with spalt and the lncRNA ivory. pdm3 is also necessary for determining wing margin stripes, where it is again co-expressed with spalt , leading us to propose that the eyespot and wing margin gene regulatory networks could be homologous. Together, our work shows that POU domain transcription factors play diverse roles in butterfly wing pattern development and highlights nubbin as one of the first genes implicated in the repressive function of wing veins in color pattern determination.
Highlights: - nubbin regulates eyespot development, likely via a repressor from the wing veins
- nubbin controls scale color and morphology across the wing
- vvl regulates color pattern readout and vein development
- pdm3 coordinates eyespot development and is co-expressed with spalt and ivory
- Expression of genes in the eyespot and wing margin suggests network homology
Abstract Figure:
Related
- Extracellular matrix properties and dynamics are important for butterfly scale nanostructure development
- Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the core phage proteome
- Light-dependent conversion of body color change pattern during zebrafish development
- Development and Validation of a Prediction Model for Severe Male Pattern Baldness in Turkish Male Population Aged 50 Years and Older
- Development of a cross-protective subunit cocktail vaccine against diverse serotypes of Glaesserella parasuis infection in pigs
BibTeX
@misc{mcdonald2026nubbin,
title = {{nubbin , ventral veinless , and pdm3 play diverse roles in butterfly wing pattern development}},
author = {Jeanne M. C. McDonald and Qin Guo and Seydeanna Delgado and Connor A. Amendola and Iya A. Garg and Robert D. Reed},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.06.742654},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.08.06.742654},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - nubbin , ventral veinless , and pdm3 play diverse roles in butterfly wing pattern development
AU - Jeanne M. C. McDonald
AU - Qin Guo
AU - Seydeanna Delgado
AU - Connor A. Amendola
AU - Iya A. Garg
AU - Robert D. Reed
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/06
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.06.742654
UR - https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.08.06.742654
AB - Butterfly wings present a tremendous gallery of colorful patterns, offering a unique opportunity to study how developmental pattern formation processes evolve. We still do not understand the genetic basis of several key aspects of wing pattern development, however. Three paralogous POU domain transcription factors nubbin, ventral veinless ( vvl ), and pdm3 are all known wing development genes in Drosophila melanogaster . Here we combine gene expression and knockout approaches to show that each of these genes plays multiple novel wing patterning roles in the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia . We found that nubbin controls eyespot pattern determination via a non-cell autonomous repressor-like effect originating at the wing veins, such that nubbin knockouts have larger eyespots. nubbin also regulates pigment identity and scale morphology across the wing. We also found that vvl regulates pigment identity of the discal bands and ventral hindwing. Last, we found that pdm3 is required for determining the outer rings of eyespot patterns, where it is co-expressed with spalt and the lncRNA ivory. pdm3 is also necessary for determining wing margin stripes, where it is again co-expressed with spalt , leading us to propose that the eyespot and wing margin gene regulatory networks could be homologous. Together, our work shows that POU domain transcription factors play diverse roles in butterfly wing pattern development and highlights nubbin as one of the first genes implicated in the repressive function of wing veins in color pattern determination. Highlights: - nubbin regulates eyespot development, likely via a repressor from the wing veins - nubbin controls scale color and morphology across the wing - vvl regulates color pattern readout and vein development - pdm3 coordinates eyespot development and is co-expressed with spalt and ivory - Expression of genes in the eyespot and wing margin suggests network homology Abstract Figure:
SN - 2692-8205
ER -