The actin cytoskeleton plays multiple roles in structural colour formation in butterfly wing scales

Victoria J. Lloyd (), Stephanie L. Burg, Jana Harizanova, Esther Garcia, Olivia Hill, Juan Enciso-Romero, Rory L. Cooper, Silja Flenner, Elena Longo, Imke Greving, Nicola J. Nadeau () and Andrew J. Parnell ()
Additional contact information
Victoria J. Lloyd: Western bank
Stephanie L. Burg: Hounsfield Road
Jana Harizanova: Harwell Campus
Esther Garcia: Harwell Campus
Olivia Hill: Hounsfield Road
Juan Enciso-Romero: Western bank
Rory L. Cooper: Western bank
Silja Flenner: Max-Planck-Strasse 1
Elena Longo: Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A.
Imke Greving: Max-Planck-Strasse 1
Nicola J. Nadeau: Western bank
Andrew J. Parnell: Hounsfield Road

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Vivid structural colours in butterflies are caused by photonic nanostructures scattering light. Structural colours evolved for numerous biological signalling functions and have important technological applications. Optically, such structures are well understood, however insight into their development in vivo remains scarce. We show that actin is intimately involved in structural colour formation in butterfly wing scales. Using comparisons between iridescent (structurally coloured) and non-iridescent scales in adult and developing H. sara, we show that iridescent scales have more densely packed actin bundles leading to an increased density of reflective ridges. Super-resolution microscopy across three distantly related butterfly species reveals that actin is repeatedly re-arranged during scale development and crucially when the optical nanostructures are forming. Furthermore, actin perturbation experiments at these later developmental stages resulted in near total loss of structural colour in H. sara. Overall, this shows that actin plays a vital and direct templating role during structural colour formation in butterfly scales, providing ridge patterning mechanisms that are likely universal across lepidoptera.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48060-3

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