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The calmodulin pathway and evolution of elongated beak morphology in Darwin's finches

Author

Listed:
  • Arhat Abzhanov

    (Harvard Medical School
    Harvard School of Dental Medicine)

  • Winston P. Kuo

    (Harvard Medical School
    Harvard Medical School
    Harvard School of Dental Medicine
    Harvard School of Dental Medicine)

  • Christine Hartmann

    (Institute of Molecular Pathology)

  • B. Rosemary Grant

    (Princeton University)

  • Peter R. Grant

    (Princeton University)

  • Clifford J. Tabin

    (Harvard Medical School)

Abstract

The long and the short of it A few years ago the depth and thickness of beaks of various species of Darwin's finches, the birds forever linked in the textbooks to adaptive radiation by natural selection, were found to correlate with expression of Bmp4 (bone morphogenetic protein 4). At that time a candidate screen did not yield any genes that could have been responsible for the evolution of different beak lengths. Now DNA microarray analysis of transcripts in the beak primordia of different Darwin's finch embryos shows that levels of calmodulin, a molecule involved in Ca2+ signalling, are correlated with beak length. With these two pathways modulating different dimensions of beak growth, a mechanism capable of producing a wide range of beak structures under different selective conditions can be envisaged.

Suggested Citation

  • Arhat Abzhanov & Winston P. Kuo & Christine Hartmann & B. Rosemary Grant & Peter R. Grant & Clifford J. Tabin, 2006. "The calmodulin pathway and evolution of elongated beak morphology in Darwin's finches," Nature, Nature, vol. 442(7102), pages 563-567, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:442:y:2006:i:7102:d:10.1038_nature04843
    DOI: 10.1038/nature04843
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