A multi-generational Turing model reproduces transgressive petal phenotypes in hybrid Mimulus.

Abstract

The origin of phenotypic novelty is a perennial question of genetics and evolution. To date, few studies of biological pattern formation specifically address multi-generational aspects of inheritance and phenotypic novelty. For quantitative traits influenced by many segregating alleles, offspring phenotypes are often intermediate to parental values. In other cases, offspring phenotypes can be transgressive to parental values. For example, in the model organism Mimulus (monkeyflower), the offspring of parents with solid-colored petals exhibit novel spotted petal phenotypes. These patterns are controlled by an activator-inhibitor gene regulatory network with a small number of loci. Here we develop and analyze a model of hybridization and pattern formation that accounts for inheritance in diploid gene regulatory networks composed of either homozygous or heterozygous alleles. We find that the resulting model of multi-generational Turing-type pattern formation can reproduce the transgressive petal phenotypes observed in Mimulus. The model gives insight into how non-patterned parent phenotypes can yield phenotypically transgressive, patterned offspring, aiding in the development of empirically testable hypotheses.