ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2010
Convergence in pigmentation at multiple levels: mutations, genes and function.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 130 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
130 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 342 citations in OpenAlex.
- The probability of genetic parallelism and convergence in natural populations.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2012Pooled it
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- Comparative Whole Genome Phylogeography Reveals Genetic Distinctiveness of Appalachian Populations of Boreal Songbirds.Evolutionary applications · 2025Article
- Expression patterns of melanin-related genes are linked to crypsis and conspicuousness in a pumpkin toadlet.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Convergent Evolution in Amblyopsid Cavefishes and the Age of Eastern North American Subterranean Ecosystems.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Exome analysis reveals species divergence in TYR and identifies species genetic markers in five endemic Macaca species on Sulawesi Island.BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- The genetic basis of replicated bullseye pattern reduction across the Hibiscus trionum complex.The New phytologist · 2025Article
- The interplay between epigenomic and transcriptomic variation during ecotype divergence in stickleback.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Quantitative trait loci concentrate in specific regions of the Mexican cavefish genome and reveal key candidate genes for cave-associated evolution.The Journal of heredity · 2025Article
- Contrasting levels of transcriptome-wide SNP diversity and adaptive molecular variation among conifers.Frontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- Multiple genomic solutions for local adaptation in two closely related species (sheep and goats) facing the same climatic constraints.Molecular ecology · 2024Article
- The genetic basis of divergent melanic pigmentation in benthic and limnetic threespine stickleback.Heredity · 2024Article
- Exploring the origin of a unique mutant allele in twin-tail goldfish using CRISPR/Cas9 mutants.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Loci associated with cave-derived traits concentrate in specific regions of the Mexican cavefish genome.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Genetically Encoded Lizard Color Divergence for Camouflage and Thermoregulation.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Multiple Routes to Color Convergence in a Radiation of Neotropical Poison Frogs.Systematic biology · 2023Article
70 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Convergence--the independent evolution of the same trait by two or more taxa--has long been of interest to evolutionary biologists, but only recently has the molecular basis of phenotypic convergence been identified. Here, we highlight studies of rapid evolution of cryptic coloration in vertebrates to demonstrate that phenotypic convergence can occur at multiple levels: mutations, genes and gene function. We first show that different genes can be responsible for convergent phenotypes even among closely related populations, for example, in the pale beach mice inhabiting Florida's Gulf and Atlantic coasts. By contrast, the exact same mutation can create similar phenotypes in distantly related species such as mice and mammoths. Next, we show that different mutations in the same gene need not be functionally equivalent to produce similar phenotypes. For example, separate mutations produce divergent protein function but convergent pale coloration in two lizard species. Similarly, mutations that alter the expression of a gene in different ways can, nevertheless, result in similar phenotypes, as demonstrated by sister species of deer mice. Together these studies underscore the importance of identifying not only the genes, but also the precise mutations and their effects on protein function, that contribute to adaptation and highlight how convergence can occur at different genetic levels.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.