Disruption of mitonuclear coadaptation and compensatory evolution after an extreme dietary shift in carnivorous butterflies.

Extreme dietary shifts in carnivorous Miletinae butterflies cause disrupted mitonuclear coadaptation, with mitochondrial evolution accelerating 2-3 times compared to relatives.

• Why it matters: Understanding how ecological changes impact mitochondrial and nuclear genome coordination is crucial, as disruptions may influence species survival and adaptation, yet remain underexplored outside hybridization contexts.
• What they did: The study involved generating high-quality genome assemblies and conducting comparative phylogenomic analyses on Miletinae butterflies, revealing chromosomal rearrangements and asymmetric mitonuclear evolution.
• The result: Findings show mitochondrial acceleration driven by relaxed purifying selection, prompting extensive nuclear compensatory evolution, which supports a model where ecological shifts reshape mitonuclear interactions to enable persistence.