Meeting Abstract

P1.60  Monday, Jan. 4  Developmental plasticity and robustness of pigmentation in the milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus JIN, L.**; SHARMA, A.*; SUZUKI, Y.; Wellesley College; Wellesley College; Wellesley College ysuzuki@wellesley.edu

Complex traits often exhibit phenotypic plasticity, the ability of an organism to alter its developmental trajectory in different genetic or environmental contexts. Yet why some traits are more phenotypically plastic than others is not well understood. Pigmentation of organisms provides an excellent system for understanding processes underlying developmental plasticity. Here the developmental regulation underlying the melanin production in the milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, was analyzed. Although Hox genes were found to regulate both wing and abdominal melanic patterns, the two melanic pigmentation patterns exhibited different degrees of phenotypic plasticity when the O. fasciatus were reared at different temperatures. Surgical manipulations suggest that the robust patterning of the wing pigmentation may be due to developmental coupling of the wing pigmentation and wing veins. Thus, spatial arrangements of the veins may limit the amount of variability in pigmentation and underlie the robustness of wing pigmentation.