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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Genes purloined from across the tree of life give insects a boost

Adaptability and courting habits are influenced by genes borrowed from a vast variety of non-animal species.
Postman Butterfly (Heliconius melpomene) butterfly in captive breeding program, Colombia.

The postman butterfly (Heliconius melpomene) has a bacterial gene that spurs more intense male courtship of females. Credit: Thomas Marent/NPL

Insects have snagged more than 1,400 genes from bacteria, fungi, plants and viruses, according to a comprehensive analysis of 218 genomes belonging to species ranging from flies to honeybees1.

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Nature 607, 639 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01971-x

References

  1. Li, Y. et al. Cell https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.06.014 (2022).

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