Fig. 4
From: Conservation and flexibility in the gene regulatory landscape of heliconiine butterfly wings
Immunohistochemistry shows pattern of Hth expression in the butterfly wing is replicated by RNAseq analysis. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the expression of Homothorax in a proximal–distal gradient across the basal third of the Heliconius wing, in larvae (a–c) and pupae (d, e) of Heliconius butterflies. a–c Highlight three regions along the proximal–distal axis of the larval wing, showing coincident expression of Homothorax and its cofactor Extradenticle. d Homothorax expression in a region coincident with the expression of Optix in a dennis-ray butterfly, Heliconius elevatus. The same expression pattern of Hth is conserved in a red-banded butterfly (e), but is not associated with Optix expression. All Heliconius show Optix expression in the overlapping fore and hindwing region, associated with wing coupling scales as documented previously [36]. The expression profile observed in pupal wings here recapitulates the levels of hth transcript observed in the RNAseq analysis of all three species examined here (f)