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Zheng JX, Du TY, Shao GC, Ma ZH, Jiang ZD, Hu W, Suo F, He W, Dong MQ, Du LL. Ubiquitination-mediated Golgi-to-endosome sorting determines the toxin-antidote duality of fission yeast wtf meiotic drivers. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8334. [PMID: 38097609 PMCID: PMC10721834 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44151-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Killer meiotic drivers (KMDs) skew allele transmission in their favor by killing meiotic progeny not inheriting the driver allele. Despite their widespread presence in eukaryotes, the molecular mechanisms behind their selfish behavior are poorly understood. In several fission yeast species, single-gene KMDs belonging to the wtf gene family exert selfish killing by expressing a toxin and an antidote through alternative transcription initiation. Here we investigate how the toxin and antidote products of a wtf-family KMD gene can act antagonistically. Both the toxin and the antidote are multi-transmembrane proteins, differing only in their N-terminal cytosolic tails. We find that the antidote employs PY motifs (Leu/Pro-Pro-X-Tyr) in its N-terminal cytosolic tail to bind Rsp5/NEDD4 family ubiquitin ligases, which ubiquitinate the antidote. Mutating PY motifs or attaching a deubiquitinating enzyme transforms the antidote into a toxic protein. Ubiquitination promotes the transport of the antidote from the trans-Golgi network to the endosome, thereby preventing it from causing toxicity. A physical interaction between the antidote and the toxin enables the ubiquitinated antidote to translocate the toxin to the endosome and neutralize its toxicity. We propose that post-translational modification-mediated protein localization and/or activity changes may be a common mechanism governing the antagonistic duality of single-gene KMDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Xin Zheng
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China
- Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Tong-Yang Du
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China
- College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Guang-Can Shao
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Zhu-Hui Ma
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Zhao-Di Jiang
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Wen Hu
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Fang Suo
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Wanzhong He
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Meng-Qiu Dong
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China
- Tsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Li-Lin Du
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China.
- Tsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 102206, China.
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Kitano J, Yoshida K. Do sex-linked male meiotic drivers contribute to intrinsic hybrid incompatibilities? Recent empirical studies from flies and rodents. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2023; 81:102068. [PMID: 37354886 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2023.102068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2023] [Revised: 05/29/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
Intrinsic hybrid incompatibility is one of the important isolating barriers between species. In organisms with sex chromosomes, intrinsic hybrid incompatibility often follows two rules: Haldane's rule and large-X effects. One explanation for these two rules is that sex chromosomes are hotspots for meiotic drivers that can cause intrinsic hybrid incompatibility between geographically isolated populations. Although this hypothesis seems plausible and several empirical data are consistent with it, we are still unsure whether such mechanisms occur in nature, particularly with respect to speciation with gene flow. Here, we review empirical studies that have investigated the roles of meiotic drive in sex-chromosome evolution and speciation and propose future studies necessary for testing this hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Kitano
- Ecological Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima 1111, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan.
| | - Kohta Yoshida
- Ecological Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima 1111, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan; Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. https://twitter.com/PristionXY
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Cutter AD. Synthetic gene drives as an anthropogenic evolutionary force. Trends Genet 2023; 39:347-357. [PMID: 36997427 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
Genetic drive represents a fundamental evolutionary force that can exact profound change to the genetic composition of populations by biasing allele transmission. Herein I propose that the use of synthetic homing gene drives, the human-mediated analog of endogenous genetic drives, warrants the designation of 'genetic welding' as an anthropogenic evolutionary force. Conceptually, this distinction parallels that of artificial and natural selection. Genetic welding is capable of imposing complex and rapid heritable phenotypic change on entire populations, whether motivated by biodiversity conservation or public health. Unanticipated possible long-term evolutionary outcomes, however, demand further investigation and bioethical consideration. The emerging importance of genetic welding also compels our explicit recognition of genetic drive as an addition to the other four fundamental forces of evolution.
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Malik HS. Driving lessons: a brief (personal) history of centromere drive. Genetics 2022; 222:iyac155. [PMID: 39255401 PMCID: PMC9713404 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyac155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/12/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Harmit S Malik
- Division of Basic Sciences & Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
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