在没有强自然选择的情况下飞蛾黑变病的遗传和进化，这一成果由中国科学院分子细胞科学卓越创新中心研究团队经过不懈努力而取得。2025年10月23日，国际知名学术期刊《国家科学评论》发表了这一成果。

基于遗传连锁分析，该课题组将该物种的黑化位点定位到一个500 Kb的基因组区间，即控制英国远亲飞蛾体内黑化的“皮层位点”。对不同自然居群及近缘种的调查表明，在这一高度变化的热点区域存在多个独立的黑素位点。功能研究表明，该位点的主要影响因子是保守的microRNA mir-193，它在蛹期产生黑色素。通过对茶树黑化的进化和生态背景的研究，课题组发现，在明显缺乏强大的自然选择（如伪装优势）的情况下，潜在的生殖劣势可能导致野生种群中遗传多样性低和黑化变种比例小。他们的研究综合了遗传和生态信息，提出了一种进化情景，在这种进化情景中，高度可变的热点地点可能会引发非适应性表型变异的重复发生，最终塑造了自然界的生物多样性。

据悉，黑变是野生动物中常见的表型变异，它为理解自然选择如何塑造生物多样性提供了有价值的模型。茶几何在亚洲茶园中盛行，茶身和茶翼的颜色呈现出自然的多形性。

附：英文原文

Title: The genetics and evolution of moth melanism in the absence of strong natural selection

Author: Liu, Yongjian, Pan, Yunjie, Cao, Yanghui, Wang, Zhibo, Ge, Chaomei, Li, Guiyun, Liu, Xiaojing, Fang, Gangqi, Wang, Yaohui, Xiao, Qiang, Zhan, Shuai

Issue&Volume: 2025-10-23

Abstract: Melanism is a common phenotypic variation in wild animals, and it provides valuable models for understanding how natural selection shapes biodiversity. The tea geometrid is prevailing in tea gardens of Asia and exhibits natural polymorphism in body and wing colors. Based on genetic linkage analysis, we mapped the melanism locus of this species to a 500-Kb genomic interval, the ‘cortex locus’ that controls industrial melanism in distantly related moths in Britain. Investigations of different natural populations of tea geometrids and related species reveal the presence of multiple independent melanic loci within this highly variable hotspot region. Functional studies suggest that the major effector within this locus is the conserved microRNA, mir-193, which produces melanin pigment during pupal stages. By examining the evolutionary and ecological contexts of melanism in tea geometrids, we find that, in the apparent absence of strong natural selection such as camouflage advantage, potential reproductive disadvantages might contribute to the low genetic diversity and the minor fraction of melanic morphs in wild populations. Our study synthesizes genetic and ecological information to propose an evolutionary scenario in which a highly variable hotspot locus may fuel the repeated occurrence of non-adaptive phenotypic variations, ultimately shaping the biodiversity in nature.

DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwaf441

Source: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaf441