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Moth and butterfly chromosomes have special structure?

Denyse O'Leary
August 15, 2016
Genetics, News
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IMAGE
tobacco (tomato) hornworm/DANIEL SCHWEN

From a study of the impossibly ugly tomato hornworm: Eurekalert:

Comparing the moth’s genes and genome to those from other insects revealed an intriguing peculiarity: “In many insects we know that genes often jump around from one location to another in their respective genomes”, described Dr Robert Waterhouse from the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and the University of Geneva, “but in moths and butterflies something seems to be reducing their freedom of movement”. Prof. Marian Goldsmith from the University of Rhode Island explained that “This exceptional conservation of gene order may be linked to the special structural properties of moth and butterfly chromosomes.” More.

Free artsie education for nerds: A number of poems have been written about how ugly hornworms are. In regions where tobacco is not grown, they are typically known as “tomato” hornworms. They are the caterpiller of the sphinx moth: instars.

See also: Evolutionary convergence of butterflies

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Here is a vid about butterflies you can more easily admire:

Comments
OT:
Dr. Behe was asked, given the rocky ride that followed the release of his book Darwin's Black Box, if he had any regrets. Given the option, would he do it all over again? "Yes," said Behe, "in a heartbeat." http://www.evolutionnews.org/2016/08/thank_you_for_s103076.html ,,,The documentary shows how Behe's arguments have been vindicated, despite much controversy and invective,,, The DVD and Blu-ray (of Revolutionary) will be released in October,
bornagain77
Caterpillars die before becoming butterflies. Neat trick. http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/08/01/157718428/are-butterflies-two-different-animals-in-one-the-death-and-resurrection-theory ppolish
Off topic:
Researchers discover that DNA naturally fluoresces - August 15, 2016 Excerpt: For decades, textbooks have stated that macromolecules within living cells, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, do not fluoresce on their own. Technology instead relies on special fluorescence dyes to enhance contrast when macromolecules are imaged.,,, "There are textbooks that say biological molecules don't absorb light and don't fluoresce," said Zhang, associate professor of biological engineering. "It's what everyone learns; it's a part of training, so nobody questions it.",,, Backman, Zhang, and Sun discovered that when illuminated with visible light, the molecules get excited and light up well enough to be imaged without fluorescent stains. When excited with the right wavelength, they even light up better than they would with the best, most powerful fluorescent labels. "This is ideal because staining is toxic," Zhang said, "and it makes imaging less precise." This toxicity makes it tricky to get an accurate image of the active processes in living cells because they die immediately after the application of fluorescent stains.,,, http://phys.org/news/2016-08-dna-naturally-fluoresces.html
bornagain77
Bad design! The color choice for the butterfly wings couldn't be worse! Where's the blue that goes with the orange? Didn't the alleged 'designer' get the memo? It's Orange-Blue! OK? Is that the kind of 'design' the so-called "ID" folks get so exited about here in this site? :) Dionisio
This appearance of design is merely the work of a blind watchmaker. Believe. Unguided & purposeless. Duh. ppolish

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