A single locus regulates a female-limited color pattern polymorphism in a reptile

Abstract

Animal coloration is often expressed in periodic patterns that can arise from differential cell migration, yet how these processes are regulated remains elusive. We show that a female-limited polymorphism in dorsal patterning (diamond/chevron) in the brown anole is controlled by a single Mendelian locus. This locus contains the geneCCDC170that is adjacent to, and coexpressed with, theEstrogen receptor-1gene, explaining why the polymorphism is female limited.CCDC170is an organizer of the Golgi-microtubule network underlying a cell’s ability to migrate, and the two segregating alleles encode structurally different proteins. Our agent-based modeling of skin development demonstrates that, in principle, a change in cell migratory behaviors is sufficient to switch between the two morphs. These results suggest thatCCDC170might have been co-opted as a switch between color patterning morphs, likely by modulating cell migratory behaviors.