{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T13:01:35Z","timestamp":1785416495155,"version":"3.56.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,31]]},"group-title":"Developmental Biology","reference-count":48,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,31]],"date-time":"2025-10-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761868800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"award":["R01HG013634"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01HG013634"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00baak391","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"U.S. National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2339031"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2339031"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000057","name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["GM133351"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GM133351"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000057","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000065","name":"National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["NS047101"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NS047101"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000065","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  The evolution of complex brains required existing neurons and neural circuits to accommodate new inputs. The genetic and developmental mechanisms that enable such integration are largely unknown. Butterflies evolved more complex retinal mosaics through the addition of a second R7 color photoreceptor per ommatidium (unit eye). In\n                  <jats:italic>Drosophila<\/jats:italic>\n                  , the unique R7 makes a stochastic choice to express one of two opsin genes. In butterflies, the two R7s make independent stochastic cell fate choices in each ommatidium, producing three ommatidial types instead of two. Here, we investigate the developmental basis of this change and how the butterfly brain accommodates expanded sensory receptor input. We first identified the changes in gene expression that cause a second R7 cell to be specified. We then modified\n                  <jats:italic>Drosophila<\/jats:italic>\n                  retinas to have butterfly-like transcription factor expression, causing recruitment of an additional R7. The two R7s make independent stochastic choices, like butterflies, leading to three stochastically distributed ommatidial types. In\n                  <jats:italic>Drosophila<\/jats:italic>\n                  , the two R7 subtypes connect to their target neurons, either yDm8 or pDm8. Dm8 neurons of both types are born in excess and Dm8s that do not find connections with their cognate y or pR7s undergo apoptosis. In the presence of extra R7s in butterfly-like fly retinas, additional Dm8s are retained, leading to two Dm8s per medulla column that make appropriate connections with the matching R7 subtypes, facilitating the expansion of color vision. We propose that the presence of cells that would otherwise die provide developmental flexibility that can allow brains to accommodate newly evolved inputs.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2025.10.30.685642","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,1]],"date-time":"2025-11-01T00:00:12Z","timestamp":1761955212000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sensory receptor expansion and neural accommodation in butterfly color vision"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3006-7073","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ke","family":"Gao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-5313-7334","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julia","family":"Ainsworth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3616-3915","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antoine","family":"Donati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-5521-9749","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yunchong","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michelle Franc","family":"Ragsac","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Halicio\u011flu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cara","family":"Genduso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zoie","family":"Andre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3697-6799","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrew","family":"Tomlinson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Genetics and Development, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA"},{"name":"Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5977-8031","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael W.","family":"Perry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026020512314350000_2025.10.30.685642v2.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ydbio.2017.06.016"},{"key":"2026020512314350000_2025.10.30.685642v2.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1101\/cshperspect.a041493"},{"key":"2026020512314350000_2025.10.30.685642v2.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1138838"},{"key":"2026020512314350000_2025.10.30.685642v2.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0896-6273(02)00818-8"},{"key":"2026020512314350000_2025.10.30.685642v2.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/jez.1401110308"},{"key":"2026020512314350000_2025.10.30.685642v2.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.ne.14.030191.002321"},{"key":"2026020512314350000_2025.10.30.685642v2.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2023.03.002"},{"key":"2026020512314350000_2025.10.30.685642v2.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature04615"},{"key":"2026020512314350000_2025.10.30.685642v2.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2946","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2025.05.037","article-title":"Cell 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Identification of genomic enhancers through spatial integration of single-cell transcriptomics and epigenomics. Mol. Syst. Biol. 16, (2020).","DOI":"10.15252\/msb.20209438"}],"container-title":[],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1101\/2025.10.30.685642","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T20:31:54Z","timestamp":1770323514000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/biorxiv.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.1101\/2025.10.30.685642"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,31]]},"references-count":48,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1101\/2025.10.30.685642","relation":{},"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,31]]},"subtype":"preprint"}}