1
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Kitaoka M, Yamashita YM. Running the gauntlet: challenges to genome integrity in spermiogenesis. Nucleus 2024; 15:2339220. [PMID: 38594652 PMCID: PMC11005813 DOI: 10.1080/19491034.2024.2339220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Species' continuity depends on gametogenesis to produce the only cell types that can transmit genetic information across generations. Spermiogenesis, which encompasses post-meiotic, haploid stages of male gametogenesis, is a process that leads to the formation of sperm cells well-known for their motility. Spermiogenesis faces three major challenges. First, after two rounds of meiotic divisions, the genome lacks repair templates (no sister chromatids, no homologous chromosomes), making it incredibly vulnerable to any genomic insults over an extended time (typically days-weeks). Second, the sperm genome becomes transcriptionally silent, making it difficult to respond to new perturbations as spermiogenesis progresses. Third, the histone-to-protamine transition, which is essential to package the sperm genome, counterintuitively involves DNA break formation. How spermiogenesis handles these challenges remains poorly understood. In this review, we discuss each challenge and their intersection with the biology of protamines. Finally, we discuss the implication of protamines in the process of evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maiko Kitaoka
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Yukiko M. Yamashita
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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2
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Swanepoel CM, Mueller JL. Out with the old, in with the new: Meiotic driving of sex chromosome evolution. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2024; 163:14-21. [PMID: 38664120 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2024.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/20/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024]
Abstract
Chromosomal regions with meiotic drivers exhibit biased transmission (> 50 %) over their competing homologous chromosomal region. These regions often have two prominent genetic features: suppressed meiotic crossing over and rapidly evolving multicopy gene families. Heteromorphic sex chromosomes (e.g., XY) often share these two genetic features with chromosomal regions exhibiting meiotic drive. Here, we discuss parallels between meiotic drive and sex chromosome evolution, how the divergence of heteromorphic sex chromosomes can be influenced by meiotic drive, experimental approaches to study meiotic drive on sex chromosomes, and meiotic drive in traditional and non-traditional model organisms with high-quality genome assemblies. The newly available diversity of high-quality sex chromosome sequences allows us to revisit conventional models of sex chromosome evolution through the lens of meiotic drive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Callie M Swanepoel
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, 1241 E. Catherine St, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jacob L Mueller
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, 1241 E. Catherine St, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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3
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Berube B, Ernst E, Cahn J, Roche B, de Santis Alves C, Lynn J, Scheben A, Grimanelli D, Siepel A, Ross-Ibarra J, Kermicle J, Martienssen RA. Teosinte Pollen Drive guides maize diversification and domestication by RNAi. Nature 2024:10.1038/s41586-024-07788-0. [PMID: 39112710 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07788-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
Selfish genetic elements contribute to hybrid incompatibility and bias or 'drive' their own transmission1,2. Chromosomal drive typically functions in asymmetric female meiosis, whereas gene drive is normally post-meiotic and typically found in males. Here, using single-molecule and single-pollen genome sequencing, we describe Teosinte Pollen Drive, an instance of gene drive in hybrids between maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and teosinte mexicana (Z. mays ssp. mexicana) that depends on RNA interference (RNAi). 22-nucleotide small RNAs from a non-coding RNA hairpin in mexicana depend on Dicer-like 2 (Dcl2) and target Teosinte Drive Responder 1 (Tdr1), which encodes a lipase required for pollen viability. Dcl2, Tdr1 and the hairpin are in tight pseudolinkage on chromosome 5, but only when transmitted through the male. Introgression of mexicana into early cultivated maize is thought to have been critical to its geographical dispersal throughout the Americas3, and a tightly linked inversion in mexicana spans a major domestication sweep in modern maize4. A survey of maize traditional varieties and sympatric populations of teosinte mexicana reveals correlated patterns of admixture among unlinked genes required for RNAi on at least four chromosomes that are also subject to gene drive in pollen from synthetic hybrids. Teosinte Pollen Drive probably had a major role in maize domestication and diversification, and offers an explanation for the widespread abundance of 'self' small RNAs in the germ lines of plants and animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Berube
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | - Evan Ernst
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | - Jonathan Cahn
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | - Benjamin Roche
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | | | - Jason Lynn
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | - Armin Scheben
- Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | | | - Adam Siepel
- Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | - Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, Center for Population Biology and Genome Center, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Jerry Kermicle
- Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Robert A Martienssen
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA.
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4
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Clark FE, Greenberg NL, Silva DMZA, Trimm E, Skinner M, Walton RZ, Rosin LF, Lampson MA, Akera T. An egg-sabotaging mechanism drives non-Mendelian transmission in mice. Curr Biol 2024:S0960-9822(24)00901-1. [PMID: 39067449 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 05/31/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Selfish genetic elements drive in meiosis to distort their transmission ratio and increase their representation in gametes, violating Mendel's law of segregation. The two established paradigms for meiotic drive, gamete killing and biased segregation, are fundamentally different. In gamete killing, typically observed with male meiosis, selfish elements sabotage gametes that do not contain them. By contrast, killing is predetermined in female meiosis, and selfish elements bias their segregation to the single surviving gamete (i.e., the egg in animal meiosis). Here, we show that a selfish element on mouse chromosome 2, Responder to drive 2 (R2d2), drives using a hybrid mechanism in female meiosis, incorporating elements of both killing and biased segregation. We propose that if R2d2 is destined for the polar body, it manipulates segregation to sabotage the egg by causing aneuploidy, which is subsequently lethal in the embryo, ensuring that surviving progeny preferentially contain R2d2. In heterozygous females, R2d2 orients randomly on the metaphase spindle but lags during anaphase and preferentially remains in the egg, regardless of its initial orientation. Thus, the egg genotype is either euploid with R2d2 or aneuploid with both homologs of chromosome 2, with only the former generating viable embryos. Consistent with this model, R2d2 heterozygous females produce eggs with increased aneuploidy for chromosome 2, increased embryonic lethality, and increased transmission of R2d2. In contrast to typical gamete killing of sisters produced as daughter cells in a single meiosis, R2d2 prevents production of any viable gametes from meiotic divisions in which it should have been excluded from the egg.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frances E Clark
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Naomi L Greenberg
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Duilio M Z A Silva
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Emily Trimm
- Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Morgan Skinner
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - R Zaak Walton
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Leah F Rosin
- Unit on Chromosome Dynamics, Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Michael A Lampson
- Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Takashi Akera
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA.
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5
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Strome S, Bhalla N, Kamakaka R, Sharma U, Sullivan W. Clarifying Mendelian vs non-Mendelian inheritance. Genetics 2024; 227:iyae078. [PMID: 38805696 PMCID: PMC11228857 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyae078] [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: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Gregor Mendel developed the principles of segregation and independent assortment in the mid-1800s based on his detailed analysis of several traits in pea plants. Those principles, now called Mendel's laws, in fact, explain the behavior of genes and alleles during meiosis and are now understood to underlie "Mendelian inheritance" of a wide range of traits and diseases across organisms. When asked to give examples of inheritance that do NOT follow Mendel's laws, in other words, examples of non-Mendelian inheritance, students sometimes list incomplete dominance, codominance, multiple alleles, sex-linked traits, and multigene traits and cite as their sources the Khan Academy, Wikipedia, and other online sites. Against this background, the goals of this Perspective are to (1) explain to students, healthcare workers, and other stakeholders why the examples above, in fact, display Mendelian inheritance, as they obey Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment, even though they do not produce classic Mendelian phenotypic ratios and (2) urge individuals with an intimate knowledge of genetic principles to monitor the accuracy of learning resources and work with us and those resources to correct information that is misleading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Strome
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Needhi Bhalla
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Rohinton Kamakaka
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Upasna Sharma
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - William Sullivan
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
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6
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Ridges JT, Bladen J, King TD, Brown NC, Large CRL, Cooper JC, Jones AJ, Loppin B, Dubruille R, Phadnis N. Overdrive is essential for targeted sperm elimination by Segregation Distorter. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.04.597441. [PMID: 38895353 PMCID: PMC11185633 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.04.597441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Intra-genomic conflict driven by selfish chromosomes is a powerful force that shapes the evolution of genomes and species. In the male germline, many selfish chromosomes bias transmission in their own favor by eliminating spermatids bearing the competing homologous chromosomes. However, the mechanisms of targeted gamete elimination remain mysterious. Here, we show that Overdrive (Ovd), a gene required for both segregation distortion and male sterility in Drosophila pseudoobscura hybrids, is broadly conserved in Dipteran insects but dispensable for viability and fertility. In D. melanogaster, Ovd is required for targeted Responder spermatid elimination after the histone-to-protamine transition in the classical Segregation Distorter system. We propose that Ovd functions as a general spermatid quality checkpoint that is hijacked by independent selfish chromosomes to eliminate competing gametes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jackson T. Ridges
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Jackson Bladen
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Thomas D. King
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Nora C. Brown
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | | | - Jacob C. Cooper
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Amanda J. Jones
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Benjamin Loppin
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5239, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Raphaëlle Dubruille
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5239, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Nitin Phadnis
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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7
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Castellanos MDP, Wickramasinghe CD, Betrán E. The roles of gene duplications in the dynamics of evolutionary conflicts. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240555. [PMID: 38865605 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0555] [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: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary conflicts occur when there is antagonistic selection between different individuals of the same or different species, life stages or between levels of biological organization. Remarkably, conflicts can occur within species or within genomes. In the dynamics of evolutionary conflicts, gene duplications can play a major role because they can bring very specific changes to the genome: changes in protein dose, the generation of novel paralogues with different functions or expression patterns or the evolution of small antisense RNAs. As we describe here, by having those effects, gene duplication might spark evolutionary conflict or fuel arms race dynamics that takes place during conflicts. Interestingly, gene duplication can also contribute to the resolution of a within-locus evolutionary conflict by partitioning the functions of the gene that is under an evolutionary trade-off. In this review, we focus on intraspecific conflicts, including sexual conflict and illustrate the various roles of gene duplications with a compilation of examples. These examples reveal the level of complexity and the differences in the patterns of gene duplications within genomes under different conflicts. These examples also reveal the gene ontologies involved in conflict and the genomic location of the elements of the conflict. The examples provide a blueprint for the direct study of these conflicts or the exploration of the presence of similar conflicts in other lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Esther Betrán
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington , Arlington, TX 76019, USA
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8
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Bladen J, Nam HJ, Phadnis N. Transformation of meiotic drive into hybrid sterility in Drosophila. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.10.593569. [PMID: 38798315 PMCID: PMC11118531 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.10.593569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Hybrid male sterility is one of the fastest evolving intrinsic reproductive barriers between recently isolated populations. A leading explanation for the evolution of hybrid male sterility involves genomic conflicts with meiotic drivers in the male germline. There are, however, few examples directly linking meiotic drive to hybrid sterility. Here, we report that the Sex-Ratio chromosome of Drosophila pseudoobscura, which causes X-chromosome drive within the USA subspecies, causes near complete male sterility when moved into the genetic background of the Bogota subspecies. In addition, we show that this new form of sterility is genetically distinct from the sterility of F1 hybrid males in crosses between USA males and Bogota females. Our observations provide a tractable study system where non-cryptic drive within species is transformed into strong hybrid sterility between very young subspecies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jackson Bladen
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Hyuck-Jin Nam
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Nitin Phadnis
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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9
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Charlesworth B. The fitness consequences of genetic divergence between polymorphic gene arrangements. Genetics 2024; 226:iyad218. [PMID: 38147527 PMCID: PMC11090464 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Inversions restrict recombination when heterozygous with standard arrangements, but often have few noticeable phenotypic effects. Nevertheless, there are several examples of inversions that can be maintained polymorphic by strong selection under laboratory conditions. A long-standing model for the source of such selection is divergence between arrangements with respect to recessive or partially recessive deleterious mutations, resulting in a selective advantage to heterokaryotypic individuals over homokaryotypes. This paper uses a combination of analytical and numerical methods to investigate this model, for the simple case of an autosomal inversion with multiple independent nucleotide sites subject to mildly deleterious mutations. A complete lack of recombination in heterokaryotypes is assumed, as well as constancy of the frequency of the inversion over space and time. It is shown that a significantly higher mutational load will develop for the less frequent arrangement. A selective advantage to heterokaryotypes is only expected when the two alternative arrangements are nearly equal in frequency, so that their mutational loads are very similar in size. The effects of some Drosophila pseudoobscura polymorphic inversions on fitness traits seem to be too large to be explained by this process, although it may contribute to some of the observed effects. Several population genomic statistics can provide evidence for signatures of a reduced efficacy of selection associated with the rarer of two arrangements, but there is currently little published data that are relevant to the theoretical predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Charlesworth
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
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10
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Clark FE, Greenberg NL, Silva DM, Trimm E, Skinner M, Walton RZ, Rosin LF, Lampson MA, Akera T. An egg sabotaging mechanism drives non-Mendelian transmission in mice. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.22.581453. [PMID: 38903120 PMCID: PMC11188085 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.22.581453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Abstract
During meiosis, homologous chromosomes segregate so that alleles are transmitted equally to haploid gametes, following Mendel's Law of Segregation. However, some selfish genetic elements drive in meiosis to distort the transmission ratio and increase their representation in gametes. The established paradigms for drive are fundamentally different for female vs male meiosis. In male meiosis, selfish elements typically kill gametes that do not contain them. In female meiosis, killing is predetermined, and selfish elements bias their segregation to the single surviving gamete (i.e., the egg in animal meiosis). Here we show that a selfish element on mouse chromosome 2, R2d2, drives using a hybrid mechanism in female meiosis, incorporating elements of both male and female drivers. If R2d2 is destined for the polar body, it manipulates segregation to sabotage the egg by causing aneuploidy that is subsequently lethal in the embryo, so that surviving progeny preferentially contain R2d2. In heterozygous females, R2d2 orients randomly on the metaphase spindle but lags during anaphase and preferentially remains in the egg, regardless of its initial orientation. Thus, the egg genotype is either euploid with R2d2 or aneuploid with both homologs of chromosome 2, with only the former generating viable embryos. Consistent with this model, R2d2 heterozygous females produce eggs with increased aneuploidy for chromosome 2, increased embryonic lethality, and increased transmission of R2d2. In contrast to a male meiotic driver, which kills its sister gametes produced as daughter cells in the same meiosis, R2d2 eliminates "cousins" produced from meioses in which it should have been excluded from the egg.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frances E. Clark
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA
| | - Naomi L. Greenberg
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA
| | - Duilio M.Z.A. Silva
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA
| | - Emily Trimm
- Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Morgan Skinner
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA
| | - R Zaak Walton
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA
| | - Leah F. Rosin
- Unit on Chromosome Dynamics, Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20894 USA
| | - Michael A. Lampson
- Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Takashi Akera
- Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA
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11
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Campelo dos Santos AL, DeGiorgio M, Assis R. Predicting evolutionary targets and parameters of gene deletion from expression data. BIOINFORMATICS ADVANCES 2024; 4:vbae002. [PMID: 38282974 PMCID: PMC10812876 DOI: 10.1093/bioadv/vbae002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Motivation Gene deletion is traditionally thought of as a nonadaptive process that removes functional redundancy from genomes, such that it generally receives less attention than duplication in evolutionary turnover studies. Yet, mounting evidence suggests that deletion may promote adaptation via the "less-is-more" evolutionary hypothesis, as it often targets genes harboring unique sequences, expression profiles, and molecular functions. Hence, predicting the relative prevalence of redundant and unique functions among genes targeted by deletion, as well as the parameters underlying their evolution, can shed light on the role of gene deletion in adaptation. Results Here, we present CLOUDe, a suite of machine learning methods for predicting evolutionary targets of gene deletion events from expression data. Specifically, CLOUDe models expression evolution as an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, and uses multi-layer neural network, extreme gradient boosting, random forest, and support vector machine architectures to predict whether deleted genes are "redundant" or "unique", as well as several parameters underlying their evolution. We show that CLOUDe boasts high power and accuracy in differentiating between classes, and high accuracy and precision in estimating evolutionary parameters, with optimal performance achieved by its neural network architecture. Application of CLOUDe to empirical data from Drosophila suggests that deletion primarily targets genes with unique functions, with further analysis showing these functions to be enriched for protein deubiquitination. Thus, CLOUDe represents a key advance in learning about the role of gene deletion in functional evolution and adaptation. Availability and implementation CLOUDe is freely available on GitHub (https://github.com/anddssan/CLOUDe).
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Luiz Campelo dos Santos
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, United States
| | - Michael DeGiorgio
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, United States
| | - Raquel Assis
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, United States
- Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, United States
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12
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Kumam Y, Trick HN, Vara Prasad P, Jugulam M. Transformative Approaches for Sustainable Weed Management: The Power of Gene Drive and CRISPR-Cas9. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:2176. [PMID: 38136999 PMCID: PMC10742955 DOI: 10.3390/genes14122176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 11/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Weeds can negatively impact crop yields and the ecosystem's health. While many weed management strategies have been developed and deployed, there is a greater need for the development of sustainable methods for employing integrated weed management. Gene drive systems can be used as one of the approaches to suppress the aggressive growth and reproductive behavior of weeds, although their efficacy is yet to be tested. Their popularity in insect pest management has increased, however, with the advent of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, which provides specificity and precision in editing the target gene. This review focuses on the different types of gene drive systems, including the use of CRISPR-Cas9-based systems and their success stories in pest management, while also exploring their possible applications in weed species. Factors that govern the success of a gene drive system in weeds, including the mode of reproduction, the availability of weed genome databases, and well-established transformation protocols are also discussed. Importantly, the risks associated with the release of weed populations with gene drive-bearing alleles into wild populations are also examined, along with the importance of addressing ecological consequences and ethical concerns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaiphabi Kumam
- Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA; (Y.K.); (P.V.V.P.)
| | - Harold N Trick
- Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA;
| | - P.V. Vara Prasad
- Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA; (Y.K.); (P.V.V.P.)
| | - Mithila Jugulam
- Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA; (Y.K.); (P.V.V.P.)
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13
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You S, Zhao Z, Yu X, Zhu S, Wang J, Lei D, Zhou J, Li J, Chen H, Xiao Y, Chen W, Wang Q, Lu J, Chen K, Zhou C, Zhang X, Cheng Z, Guo X, Ren Y, Zheng X, Liu S, Liu X, Tian Y, Jiang L, Tao D, Wu C, Wan J. A toxin-antidote system contributes to interspecific reproductive isolation in rice. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7528. [PMID: 37980335 PMCID: PMC10657391 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43015-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Breakdown of reproductive isolation facilitates flow of useful trait genes into crop plants from their wild relatives. Hybrid sterility, a major form of reproductive isolation exists between cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) and wild rice (O. meridionalis, Mer). Here, we report the cloning of qHMS1, a quantitative trait locus controlling hybrid male sterility between these two species. Like qHMS7, another locus we cloned previously, qHMS1 encodes a toxin-antidote system, but differs in the encoded proteins, their evolutionary origin, and action time point during pollen development. In plants heterozygous at qHMS1, ~ 50% of pollens carrying qHMS1-D (an allele from cultivated rice) are selectively killed. In plants heterozygous at both qHMS1 and qHMS7, ~ 75% pollens without co-presence of qHMS1-Mer and qHMS7-D are selectively killed, indicating that the antidotes function in a toxin-dependent manner. Our results indicate that different toxin-antidote systems provide stacked reproductive isolation for maintaining species identity and shed light on breakdown of hybrid male sterility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shimin You
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Zhigang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Xiaowen Yu
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Shanshan Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Jian Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Dekun Lei
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Jiawu Zhou
- Yunnan Seed Laboratory/Yunnan Key Laboratory for Rice Genetic Improvement, Food Crops Research Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS), Kunming, 650200, P. R. China
| | - Jing Li
- Yunnan Seed Laboratory/Yunnan Key Laboratory for Rice Genetic Improvement, Food Crops Research Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS), Kunming, 650200, P. R. China
| | - Haiyuan Chen
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Yanjia Xiao
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Weiwei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Qiming Wang
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Jiayu Lu
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Keyi Chen
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Chunlei Zhou
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Xin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Zhijun Cheng
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Xiuping Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Yulong Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Xiaoming Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Shijia Liu
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Xi Liu
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Yunlu Tian
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Ling Jiang
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Dayun Tao
- Yunnan Seed Laboratory/Yunnan Key Laboratory for Rice Genetic Improvement, Food Crops Research Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS), Kunming, 650200, P. R. China.
| | - Chuanyin Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China.
| | - Jianmin Wan
- State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, China.
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14
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Unckless RL. Meiotic drive, postzygotic isolation, and the Snowball Effect. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.11.14.567107. [PMID: 38014228 PMCID: PMC10680770 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.14.567107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
As populations diverge, they accumulate incompatibilities which reduce gene flow and facilitate the formation of new species. Simple models suggest that the genes that cause Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibilities should accumulate at least as fast as the square of the number of substitutions between taxa, the so-called snowball effect. We show, however, that in the special- but possibly common- case in which hybrid sterility is due primarily to cryptic meiotic (gametic) drive, the number of genes that cause postzygotic isolation may increase nearly linearly with the number of substitutions between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert L Unckless
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045
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15
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Berube B, Ernst E, Cahn J, Roche B, de Santis Alves C, Lynn J, Scheben A, Siepel A, Ross-Ibarra J, Kermicle J, Martienssen R. Teosinte Pollen Drive guides maize diversification and domestication by RNAi. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.07.12.548689. [PMID: 37503269 PMCID: PMC10370002 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.12.548689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Meiotic drivers subvert Mendelian expectations by manipulating reproductive development to bias their own transmission. Chromosomal drive typically functions in asymmetric female meiosis, while gene drive is normally postmeiotic and typically found in males. Using single molecule and single-pollen genome sequencing, we describe Teosinte Pollen Drive, an instance of gene drive in hybrids between maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and teosinte mexicana (Zea mays ssp. mexicana), that depends on RNA interference (RNAi). 22nt small RNAs from a non-coding RNA hairpin in mexicana depend on Dicer-Like 2 (Dcl2) and target Teosinte Drive Responder 1 (Tdr1), which encodes a lipase required for pollen viability. Dcl2, Tdr1, and the hairpin are in tight pseudolinkage on chromosome 5, but only when transmitted through the male. Introgression of mexicana into early cultivated maize is thought to have been critical to its geographical dispersal throughout the Americas, and a tightly linked inversion in mexicana spans a major domestication sweep in modern maize. A survey of maize landraces and sympatric populations of teosinte mexicana reveals correlated patterns of admixture among unlinked genes required for RNAi on at least 4 chromosomes that are also subject to gene drive in pollen from synthetic hybrids. Teosinte Pollen Drive likely played a major role in maize domestication and diversification, and offers an explanation for the widespread abundance of "self" small RNAs in the germlines of plants and animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Berube
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor NY11724
| | - Evan Ernst
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor NY11724
| | - Jonathan Cahn
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor NY11724
| | - Benjamin Roche
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor NY11724
| | | | - Jason Lynn
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor NY11724
| | - Armin Scheben
- Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor NY11724
| | - Adam Siepel
- Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor NY11724
| | - Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra
- Dept. of Evolution & Ecology, Center for Population Biology and Genome Center, University of California, Davis CA
| | - Jerry Kermicle
- Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison WI
| | - Rob Martienssen
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor NY11724
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16
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Martí E, Larracuente AM. Genetic conflict and the origin of multigene families: implications for sex chromosome evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231823. [PMID: 37909083 PMCID: PMC10618873 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1823] [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: 08/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Sex chromosomes are havens for intragenomic conflicts. The absence of recombination between sex chromosomes creates the opportunity for the evolution of segregation distorters: selfish genetic elements that hijack different aspects of an individual's reproduction to increase their own transmission. Biased (non-Mendelian) segregation, however, often occurs at a detriment to their host's fitness, and therefore can trigger evolutionary arms races that can have major consequences for genome structure and regulation, gametogenesis, reproductive strategies and even speciation. Here, we review an emerging feature from comparative genomic and sex chromosome evolution studies suggesting that meiotic drive is pervasive: the recurrent evolution of paralogous sex-linked gene families. Sex chromosomes of several species independently acquire and co-amplify rapidly evolving gene families with spermatogenesis-related functions, consistent with a history of intragenomic conflict over transmission. We discuss Y chromosome features that might contribute to the tempo and mode of evolution of X/Y co-amplified gene families, as well as their implications for the evolution of complexity in the genome. Finally, we propose a framework that explores the conditions that might allow for recurrent bouts of fixation of drivers and suppressors, in a dosage-sensitive fashion, and therefore the co-amplification of multigene families on sex chromosomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emiliano Martí
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
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17
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Barbash DA, Jin B, Wei KHC, Dion-Côté AM. Testing a candidate meiotic drive locus identified by pool sequencing. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2023; 13:jkad225. [PMID: 37766472 PMCID: PMC10627268 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2023] [Revised: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Meiotic drive biases the transmission of alleles in heterozygous individuals, such that Mendel's law of equal segregation is violated. Most examples of meiotic drive have been discovered over the past century based on causing sex ratio distortion or the biased transmission of easily scoreable genetic markers that were linked to drive alleles. More recently, several approaches have been developed that attempt to identify distortions of Mendelian segregation genome wide. Here, we test a candidate female meiotic drive locus in Drosophila melanogaster, identified previously as causing a ∼54:46 distortion ratio using sequencing of large pools of backcross progeny. We inserted fluorescent visible markers near the candidate locus and scored transmission in thousands of individual progeny. We observed a small but significant deviation from the Mendelian expectation; however, it was in the opposite direction to that predicted based on the original experiments. We discuss several possible causes of the discrepancy between the 2 approaches, noting that subtle viability effects are particularly challenging to disentangle from potential small-effect meiotic drive loci. We conclude that pool sequencing approaches remain a powerful method to identify candidate meiotic drive loci but that genotyping of individual progeny at early developmental stages may be required for robust confirmation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Barbash
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Bozhou Jin
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Kevin H C Wei
- Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T1Z3, Canada
| | - Anne-Marie Dion-Côté
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Département de Biologie, Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB E1A 3E9, Canada
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18
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Patten MM, Schenkel MA, Ågren JA. Adaptation in the face of internal conflict: the paradox of the organism revisited. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1796-1811. [PMID: 37203364 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
The paradox of the organism refers to the observation that organisms appear to function as coherent purposeful entities, despite the potential for within-organismal components like selfish genetic elements and cancer cells to erode them from within. While it is commonly accepted that organisms may pursue fitness maximisation and can be thought to hold particular agendas, there is a growing recognition that genes and cells do so as well. This can lead to evolutionary conflicts between an organism and the parts that reside within it. Here, we revisit the paradox of the organism. We first outline its conception and relationship to debates about adaptation in evolutionary biology. Second, we review the ways selfish elements may exploit organisms, and the extent to which this threatens organismal integrity. To this end, we introduce a novel classification scheme that distinguishes between selfish elements that seek to distort transmission versus those that seek to distort phenotypic traits. Our classification scheme also highlights how some selfish elements elude a multi-level selection decomposition using the Price equation. Third, we discuss how the organism can retain its status as the primary fitness-maximising agent in the face of selfish elements. The success of selfish elements is often constrained by their strategy and further limited by a combination of fitness alignment and enforcement mechanisms controlled by the organism. Finally, we argue for the need for quantitative measures of both internal conflicts and organismality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manus M Patten
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, 37th and O St. NW, Washington, DC, 20057, USA
| | - Martijn A Schenkel
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, 37th and O St. NW, Washington, DC, 20057, USA
- Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - J Arvid Ågren
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, Uppsala, 752 36, Sweden
- Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA
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19
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Lai EC, Vogan AA. Proliferation and dissemination of killer meiotic drive loci. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2023; 82:102100. [PMID: 37625205 PMCID: PMC10900872 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2023.102100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/22/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023]
Abstract
Killer meiotic drive elements are selfish genetic entities that manipulate the sexual cycle to promote their own inheritance via destructive means. Two broad classes are sperm killers, typical of animals and plants, and spore killers, which are present in ascomycete fungi. Killer meiotic drive systems operate via toxins that destroy or disable meiotic products bearing the alternative allele. To avoid suicidal autotargeting, cells that bear these selfish elements must either lack the toxin target, or express an antidote. Historically, these systems were presumed to require large nonrecombining haplotypes to link multiple functional interacting loci. However, recent advances on fungal spore killers reveal that numerous systems are enacted by single genes, and similar molecular genetic studies in Drosophila pinpoint individual loci that distort gamete sex. Notably, many meiotic drivers duplicate readily, forming gene families that can have complex interactions within and between species, and providing substrates for their rapid functional diversification. Here, we summarize the known families of meiotic drivers in fungi and fruit flies, and highlight shared principles about their evolution and proliferation that promote the spread of these noxious genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric C Lai
- Developmental Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, 430 East 67th St, ROC-10, New York, NY 10065, USA.
| | - Aaron A Vogan
- Institute of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, Uppsala 752 36, Sweden.
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20
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Baird RB, Mongue AJ, Ross L. Why put all your eggs in one basket? Evolutionary perspectives on the origins of monogenic reproduction. Heredity (Edinb) 2023:10.1038/s41437-023-00632-7. [PMID: 37328587 PMCID: PMC10382564 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-023-00632-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Sexual reproduction is ubiquitous in eukaryotes, but the mechanisms by which sex is determined are diverse and undergo rapid turnovers in short evolutionary timescales. Usually, an embryo's sex is fated at the moment of fertilisation, but in rare instances it is the maternal genotype that determines the offspring's sex. These systems are often characterised by mothers producing single-sex broods, a phenomenon known as monogeny. Monogenic reproduction is well documented in Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps), where it is associated with a eusocial lifestyle. However, it is also known to occur in three families in Diptera (true flies): Sciaridae, Cecidomyiidae and Calliphoridae. Here we review current knowledge of monogenic reproduction in these dipteran clades. We discuss how this strange reproductive strategy might evolve, and we consider the potential contributions of inbreeding, sex ratio distorters, and polygenic control of the sex ratio. Finally, we provide suggestions on future work to elucidate the origins of this unusual reproductive strategy. We propose that studying these systems will contribute to our understanding of the evolution and turnover of sex determination systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert B Baird
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK.
| | - Andrew J Mongue
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA
| | - Laura Ross
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK
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21
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Vedanayagam J, Herbette M, Mudgett H, Lin CJ, Lai CM, McDonough-Goldstein C, Dorus S, Loppin B, Meiklejohn C, Dubruille R, Lai EC. Essential and recurrent roles for hairpin RNAs in silencing de novo sex chromosome conflict in Drosophila simulans. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002136. [PMID: 37289846 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Meiotic drive loci distort the normally equal segregation of alleles, which benefits their own transmission even in the face of severe fitness costs to their host organism. However, relatively little is known about the molecular identity of meiotic drivers, their strategies of action, and mechanisms that can suppress their activity. Here, we present data from the fruitfly Drosophila simulans that address these questions. We show that a family of de novo, protamine-derived X-linked selfish genes (the Dox gene family) is silenced by a pair of newly emerged hairpin RNA (hpRNA) small interfering RNA (siRNA)-class loci, Nmy and Tmy. In the w[XD1] genetic background, knockout of nmy derepresses Dox and MDox in testes and depletes male progeny, whereas knockout of tmy causes misexpression of PDox genes and renders males sterile. Importantly, genetic interactions between nmy and tmy mutant alleles reveal that Tmy also specifically maintains male progeny for normal sex ratio. We show the Dox loci are functionally polymorphic within D. simulans, such that both nmy-associated sex ratio bias and tmy-associated sterility can be rescued by wild-type X chromosomes bearing natural deletions in different Dox family genes. Finally, using tagged transgenes of Dox and PDox2, we provide the first experimental evidence Dox family genes encode proteins that are strongly derepressed in cognate hpRNA mutants. Altogether, these studies support a model in which protamine-derived drivers and hpRNA suppressors drive repeated cycles of sex chromosome conflict and resolution that shape genome evolution and the genetic control of male gametogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey Vedanayagam
- Developmental Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Marion Herbette
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon CNRS UMR5239, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Holly Mudgett
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States of America
| | - Ching-Jung Lin
- Developmental Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, New York, United States of America
- Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Chun-Ming Lai
- Developmental Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, New York, United States of America
| | | | - Stephen Dorus
- Center for Reproductive Evolution, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States of America
| | - Benjamin Loppin
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon CNRS UMR5239, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Colin Meiklejohn
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States of America
| | - Raphaëlle Dubruille
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon CNRS UMR5239, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Eric C Lai
- Developmental Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, New York, United States of America
- Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States of America
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22
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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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23
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Marion SB, Noor MAF. Interrogating the Roles of Mutation-Selection Balance, Heterozygote Advantage, and Linked Selection in Maintaining Recessive Lethal Variation in Natural Populations. Annu Rev Anim Biosci 2023; 11:77-91. [PMID: 36315650 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-animal-050422-092520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
For nearly a century, evolutionary biologists have observed chromosomes that cause lethality when made homozygous persisting at surprisingly high frequencies (>25%) in natural populations of many species. The evolutionary forces responsible for the maintenance of such detrimental mutations have been heavily debated-are some lethal mutations under balancing selection? We suggest that mutation-selection balance alone cannot explain lethal variation in nature and the possibility that other forces play a role. We review the potential that linked selection in particular may drive maintenance of lethal alleles through associative overdominance or linkage to beneficial mutations or by reducing effective population size. Over the past five decades, investigation into this mystery has tapered. During this time, key scientific advances have provided the ability to collect more accurate data and analyze them in new ways, making the underlying genetic bases and evolutionary forces of lethal alleles timely for study once more.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah B Marion
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA; ,
| | - Mohamed A F Noor
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA; ,
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24
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Nuckolls NL, Nidamangala Srinivasa A, Mok AC, Helston RM, Bravo Núñez MA, Lange JJ, Gallagher TJ, Seidel CW, Zanders SE. S. pombe wtf drivers use dual transcriptional regulation and selective protein exclusion from spores to cause meiotic drive. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1009847. [PMID: 36477651 PMCID: PMC9762604 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Meiotic drivers bias gametogenesis to ensure their transmission into more than half the offspring of a heterozygote. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, wtf meiotic drivers destroy the meiotic products (spores) that do not inherit the driver from a heterozygote, thereby reducing fertility. wtf drivers encode both a Wtfpoison protein and a Wtfantidote protein using alternative transcriptional start sites. Here, we analyze how the expression and localization of the Wtf proteins are regulated to achieve drive. We show that transcriptional timing and selective protein exclusion from developing spores ensure that all spores are exposed to Wtf4poison, but only the spores that inherit wtf4 receive a dose of Wtf4antidote sufficient for survival. In addition, we show that the Mei4 transcription factor, a master regulator of meiosis, controls the expression of the wtf4poison transcript. This transcriptional regulation, which includes the use of a critical meiotic transcription factor, likely complicates the universal suppression of wtf genes without concomitantly disrupting spore viability. We propose that these features contribute to the evolutionary success of the wtf drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole L. Nuckolls
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Ananya Nidamangala Srinivasa
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America
| | - Anthony C. Mok
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
- University of Missouri—Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Rachel M. Helston
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
| | | | - Jeffrey J. Lange
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Todd J. Gallagher
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Chris W. Seidel
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Sarah E. Zanders
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America
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25
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Ågren JA, Patten MM. Genetic conflicts and the case for licensed anthropomorphizing. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022; 76:166. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03267-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Revised: 11/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The use of intentional language in biology is controversial. It has been commonly applied by researchers in behavioral ecology, who have not shied away from employing agential thinking or even anthropomorphisms, but has been rarer among researchers from more mechanistic corners of the discipline, such as population genetics. One research area where these traditions come into contact—and occasionally clash—is the study of genetic conflicts, and its history offers a good window to the debate over the use of intentional language in biology. We review this debate, paying particular attention to how this interaction has played out in work on genomic imprinting and sex chromosomes. In light of this, we advocate for a synthesis of the two approaches, a form of licensed anthropomorphizing. Here, agential thinking’s creative potential and its ability to identify the fulcrum of evolutionary pressure are combined with the rigidity of formal mathematical modeling.
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26
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Malik HS. Driving lessons: a brief (personal) history of centromere drive. Genetics 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyac155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] 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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27
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Bradshaw SL, Meade L, Tarlton-Weatherall J, Pomiankowski A. Meiotic drive adaptive testes enlargement during early development in the stalk-eyed fly. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20220352. [PMID: 36448294 PMCID: PMC9709577 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The sex ratio (SR) X-linked meiotic drive system in stalk-eyed flies destroys Y-bearing sperm. Unlike other SR systems, drive males do not suffer fertility loss. They have greatly enlarged testes which compensate for gamete killing. We predicted that enlarged testes arise from extended development with resources re-allocated from the accessory glands, as these tend to be smaller in drive males. To test this, we tracked the growth of the testes and accessory glands of wild-type and drive males over 5-6 weeks post-eclosion before males attained sexual maturity. Neither of the original predictions is supported by these data. Instead, we found that the drive male testes were enlarged at eclosion, reflecting a greater allocation of resources to the testes during pupation. Testes grow at a higher rate during early adult development in drive males, but there was no evidence that this retards the growth of the accessory glands. Further experiments are proposed to investigate whether smaller accessory glands only arise in drive males post-copulation or when flies are subjected to nutritional stress. Our experimental findings support the idea that enlarged testes in drive males arise as an adaptive allocation of resources to traits that enhance male reproductive success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha L. Bradshaw
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Lara Meade
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Jessica Tarlton-Weatherall
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Andrew Pomiankowski
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK,CoMPLEX, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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28
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De Carvalho M, Jia GS, Nidamangala Srinivasa A, Billmyre RB, Xu YH, Lange JJ, Sabbarini IM, Du LL, Zanders SE. The wtf meiotic driver gene family has unexpectedly persisted for over 100 million years. eLife 2022; 11:e81149. [PMID: 36227631 PMCID: PMC9562144 DOI: 10.7554/elife.81149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Meiotic drivers are selfish elements that bias their own transmission into more than half of the viable progeny produced by a driver+/driver- heterozygote. Meiotic drivers are thought to exist for relatively short evolutionary timespans because a driver gene or gene family is often found in a single species or in a group of very closely related species. Additionally, drivers are generally considered doomed to extinction when they spread to fixation or when suppressors arise. In this study, we examine the evolutionary history of the wtf meiotic drivers first discovered in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We identify homologous genes in three other fission yeast species, S. octosporus, S. osmophilus, and S. cryophilus, which are estimated to have diverged over 100 million years ago from the S. pombe lineage. Synteny evidence supports that wtf genes were present in the common ancestor of these four species. Moreover, the ancestral genes were likely drivers as wtf genes in S. octosporus cause meiotic drive. Our findings indicate that meiotic drive systems can be maintained for long evolutionary timespans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mickaël De Carvalho
- Stowers Institute for Medical ResearchKansas CityUnited States
- Open UniversityMilton KeynesUnited Kingdom
| | - Guo-Song Jia
- PTN Joint Graduate Program, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua UniversityBeijingChina
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, BeijingBeijingChina
| | - Ananya Nidamangala Srinivasa
- Stowers Institute for Medical ResearchKansas CityUnited States
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityUnited States
| | | | - Yan-Hui Xu
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, BeijingBeijingChina
| | - Jeffrey J Lange
- Stowers Institute for Medical ResearchKansas CityUnited States
| | | | - Li-Lin Du
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, BeijingBeijingChina
- Tsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, Tsinghua UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Sarah E Zanders
- Stowers Institute for Medical ResearchKansas CityUnited States
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityUnited States
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29
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Baumgartner L, Handler D, Platzer SW, Yu C, Duchek P, Brennecke J. The Drosophila ZAD zinc finger protein Kipferl guides Rhino to piRNA clusters. eLife 2022; 11:80067. [PMID: 36193674 PMCID: PMC9531945 DOI: 10.7554/elife.80067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA interference systems depend on the synthesis of small RNA precursors whose sequences define the target spectrum of these silencing pathways. The Drosophila Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) variant Rhino permits transcription of PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) precursors within transposon-rich heterochromatic loci in germline cells. Current models propose that Rhino’s specific chromatin occupancy at piRNA source loci is determined by histone marks and maternally inherited piRNAs, but also imply the existence of other, undiscovered specificity cues. Here, we identify a member of the diverse family of zinc finger associated domain (ZAD)-C2H2 zinc finger proteins, Kipferl, as critical Rhino cofactor in ovaries. By binding to guanosine-rich DNA motifs and interacting with the Rhino chromodomain, Kipferl recruits Rhino to specific loci and stabilizes it on chromatin. In kipferl mutant flies, Rhino is lost from most of its target chromatin loci and instead accumulates on pericentromeric Satellite arrays, resulting in decreased levels of transposon targeting piRNAs and impaired fertility. Our findings reveal that DNA sequence, in addition to the H3K9me3 mark, determines the identity of piRNA source loci and provide insight into how Rhino might be caught in the crossfire of genetic conflicts. The genes within our DNA encode the essentials of our body plan and how each task in the body is achieved. However, our genome also contains many repetitive regions of DNA that do not encode functional genes. Some of these regions are genetic parasites known as transposons that try to multiply and spread around the DNA of their host. To prevent transposon DNA from interfering with the way the body operates, humans and other animals have evolved elaborate defense mechanisms to identify transposons and prevent them from multiplying. In one such mechanism, known as the piRNA pathway, the host makes small molecules known as piRNAs that have sequences complementary to those of transposons, and act as guides to silence the transposons. The instructions to make these piRNAs are stored in the form of transposon fragments in dedicated regions of host DNA called piRNA clusters. These clusters thereby act as genetic memory, allowing the host to recognize and silence specific transposons in other locations within the host’s genome. In fruit flies, a protein called Rhino binds to piRNA clusters that are densely packed to allow piRNAs to be made. However, it remained unclear how Rhino is able to identify and bind to piRNA clusters, but not to other similarly densely packed regions of DNA. Baumgartner et al. used a combination of genetic, genomic, and imaging approaches to study how Rhino finds its way in the fruit fly genome. They found that another protein called Kipferl interacts with Rhino and is required for Rhino to bind to nearly all piRNA clusters. Since Kipferl can by itself bind to the sequences that Rhino needs to find, the results suggest that Kipferl acts to recruit and initiate Rhino binding within densely packed piRNA clusters. Further experiments found that, in flies lacking Kipferl, Rhino binds to regions of DNA called Satellite repeats, hinting that these selfish sequences may compete for Rhino for their own benefit. The finding that Kipferl and Rhino work together to define the memory system of the piRNA pathway strongly advances our understanding of how a sequence-specific defense system based on small RNAs can be established.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Baumgartner
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria.,Vienna BioCenter PhD Program, Doctoral School of the University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Dominik Handler
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sebastian Wolfgang Platzer
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Changwei Yu
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Peter Duchek
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Julius Brennecke
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
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Abstract
Spore killers are specific genetic elements in fungi that kill sexual spores that do not contain them. A range of studies in the last few years have provided the long-awaited first insights into the molecular mechanistic aspects of spore killing in different fungal models, including both yeast-forming and filamentous Ascomycota. Here we describe these recent advances, focusing on the wtf system in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe; the Sk spore killers of Neurospora species; and two spore-killer systems in Podospora anserina, Spok and [Het-s]. The spore killers appear thus far mechanistically unrelated. They can involve large genomic rearrangements but most often rely on the action of just a single gene. Data gathered so far show that the protein domains involved in the killing and resistance processes differ among the systems and are not homologous. The emerging picture sketched by these studies is thus one of great mechanistic and evolutionary diversity of elements that cheat during meiosis and are thereby preferentially inherited over sexual generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sven J Saupe
- Institut de Biochimie et de Génétique Cellulaire, CNRS UMR 5095, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France;
| | - Hanna Johannesson
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;
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31
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Abstract
Some of the most striking polymorphisms in nature are regulated by “supergenes,” which are clusters of tightly linked genes that coordinately control complex phenotypes. Here, we study the evolutionary history of a supergene regulating colony social organization in fire ants. We show that the three inversions constituting the social supergene emerged sequentially during the separation of the ancestral lineages of Solenopsis invicta and Solenopsis richteri. Once completely assembled in S. richteri, the supergene introgressed into multiple closely related species despite recent hybridization being uncommon between several of the species. These findings provide a rare and striking example of how introgression can lead to the rapid spread of a novel variant controlling complex traits. Supergenes are clusters of tightly linked genes that jointly produce complex phenotypes. Although widespread in nature, how such genomic elements are formed and how they spread are in most cases unclear. In the fire ant Solenopsis invicta and closely related species, a “social supergene controls whether a colony maintains one or multiple queens. Here, we show that the three inversions constituting the Social b (Sb) supergene emerged sequentially during the separation of the ancestral lineages of S. invicta and Solenopsis richteri. The two first inversions arose in the ancestral population of both species, while the third one arose in the S. richteri lineage. Once completely assembled in the S. richteri lineage, the supergene first introgressed into S. invicta, and from there into the other species of the socially polymorphic group of South American fire ant species. Surprisingly, the introgression of this large and important genomic element occurred despite recent hybridization being uncommon between several of the species. These results highlight how supergenes can readily move across species boundaries, possibly because of fitness benefits they provide and/or expression of selfish properties favoring their transmission.
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32
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Kay T, Helleu Q, Keller L. Iterative evolution of supergene-based social polymorphism in ants. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210196. [PMID: 35694755 PMCID: PMC9189498 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Species commonly exhibit alternative morphs, with individual fate being determined during development by either genetic factors, environmental cues or a combination thereof. Ants offer an interesting case study because many species are polymorphic in their social structure. Some colonies contain one queen while others contain many queens. This variation in queen number is generally associated with a suite of phenotypic and life-history traits, including mode of colony founding, queen lifespan, queen-worker dimorphism and colony size. The basis of this social polymorphism has been studied in five ant lineages, and remarkably social morph seems to be determined by a supergene in all cases. These 'social supergenes' tend to be large, having formed through serial inversions, and to comprise hundreds of linked genes. They have persisted over long evolutionary timescales, in multiple lineages following speciation events, and have spread between closely related species via introgression. Their evolutionary dynamics are unusually complex, combining recessive lethality, spatially variable selection, selfish genetic elements and non-random mating. Here, we synthesize the five cases of supergene-based social polymorphism in ants, highlighting interesting commonalities, idiosyncrasies and implications for the evolution of polymorphisms in general. This article is part of the theme issue 'Genomic architecture of supergenes: causes and evolutionary consequences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Kay
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Quentin Helleu
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Laurent Keller
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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33
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Pierce D, Sun P, Purcell J, Brelsford A. A socially polymorphic Formica ant species exhibits a novel distribution of social supergene genotypes. J Evol Biol 2022; 35:1031-1044. [PMID: 35759556 PMCID: PMC9543797 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Most supergenes discovered so far are young, occurring in one species or a few closely related species. An ancient supergene in the ant genus Formica presents an unusual opportunity to compare supergene‐associated phenotypes and the factors that influence the persistence of polymorphism in different species. We investigate the genetic architecture of social organization in Formica francoeuri, an ant species native to low‐ and mid‐elevation semiarid regions of southern California, and describe an efficient technique for estimating mode of social organization using population genomic data. Using this technique, we show that F. francoeuri exhibits polymorphism in colony social organization and that the phenotypic polymorphism is strongly associated with genotypes within the Formica social supergene region. The distribution of supergene haplotypes in F. francoeuri differs from that of related species Formica selysi in that colonies with multiple queens contain almost exclusively workers that are heterozygous for alternative supergene haplotypes. Moreover, heterozygous workers exhibit allele‐specific expression of the polygyne‐associated haplotype at the candidate gene Knockout, which is thought to influence social organization. We also report geographic population structure and variation in worker size across a large fraction of the species range. Our results suggest that, although the Formica supergene is conserved within the genus, the mechanisms that maintain the supergene and its associated polymorphisms differ among species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Pierce
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Penglin Sun
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Jessica Purcell
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Alan Brelsford
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
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34
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Simon M, Durand S, Ricou A, Vrielynck N, Mayjonade B, Gouzy J, Boyer R, Roux F, Camilleri C, Budar F. APOK3, a pollen killer antidote in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genetics 2022; 221:6603116. [PMID: 35666201 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyac089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The principles of heredity state that the two alleles carried by a heterozygote are equally transmitted to the progeny. However, genomic regions that escape this rule have been reported in many organisms. It is notably the case of genetic loci referred to as gamete killers, where one allele enhances its transmission by causing the death of the gametes that do not carry it. Gamete killers are of great interest, particularly to understand mechanisms of evolution and speciation. Although being common in plants, only a few, all in rice, have so far been deciphered to the causal genes. Here, we studied a pollen killer found in hybrids between two accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana. Exploring natural variation, we observed this pollen killer in many crosses within the species. Genetic analyses revealed that three genetically linked elements are necessary for pollen killer activity. Using mutants, we showed that this pollen killer works according to a poison-antidote model, where the poison kills pollen grains not producing the antidote. We identified the gene encoding the antidote, a chimeric protein addressed to mitochondria. De novo genomic sequencing in twelve natural variants with different behaviors regarding the pollen killer revealed a hyper variable locus, with important structural variations particularly in killer genotypes, where the antidote gene recently underwent duplications. Our results strongly suggest that the gene has newly evolved within A. thaliana. Finally, we identified in the protein sequence polymorphisms related to its antidote activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthieu Simon
- Université Paris-Saclay,INRAE, AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB), 78000, Versailles, France
| | - Stéphanie Durand
- Université Paris-Saclay,INRAE, AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB), 78000, Versailles, France
| | - Anthony Ricou
- Université Paris-Saclay,INRAE, AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB), 78000, Versailles, France
| | - Nathalie Vrielynck
- Université Paris-Saclay,INRAE, AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB), 78000, Versailles, France
| | | | - Jérôme Gouzy
- LIPME,Université de Toulouse,INRAE,CNRS, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Roxane Boyer
- INRAE, GeT-PlaGe, Genotoul, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France(doi : 10.15454/1.5572370921303193E12)
| | - Fabrice Roux
- LIPME,Université de Toulouse,INRAE,CNRS, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Christine Camilleri
- Université Paris-Saclay,INRAE, AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB), 78000, Versailles, France
| | - Françoise Budar
- Université Paris-Saclay,INRAE, AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB), 78000, Versailles, France
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35
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Navarro-Dominguez B, Chang CH, Brand CL, Muirhead CA, Presgraves DC, Larracuente AM. Epistatic selection on a selfish Segregation Distorter supergene - drive, recombination, and genetic load. eLife 2022; 11:e78981. [PMID: 35486424 PMCID: PMC9122502 DOI: 10.7554/elife.78981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Meiotic drive supergenes are complexes of alleles at linked loci that together subvert Mendelian segregation resulting in preferential transmission. In males, the most common mechanism of drive involves the disruption of sperm bearing one of a pair of alternative alleles. While at least two loci are important for male drive-the driver and the target-linked modifiers can enhance drive, creating selection pressure to suppress recombination. In this work, we investigate the evolution and genomic consequences of an autosomal, multilocus, male meiotic drive system, Segregation Distorter (SD) in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. In African populations, the predominant SD chromosome variant, SD-Mal, is characterized by two overlapping, paracentric inversions on chromosome arm 2R and nearly perfect (~100%) transmission. We study the SD-Mal system in detail, exploring its components, chromosomal structure, and evolutionary history. Our findings reveal a recent chromosome-scale selective sweep mediated by strong epistatic selection for haplotypes carrying Sd, the main driving allele, and one or more factors within the double inversion. While most SD-Mal chromosomes are homozygous lethal, SD-Mal haplotypes can recombine with other, complementing haplotypes via crossing over, and with wildtype chromosomes via gene conversion. SD-Mal chromosomes have nevertheless accumulated lethal mutations, excess non-synonymous mutations, and excess transposable element insertions. Therefore, SD-Mal haplotypes evolve as a small, semi-isolated subpopulation with a history of strong selection. These results may explain the evolutionary turnover of SD haplotypes in different populations around the world and have implications for supergene evolution broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ching-Ho Chang
- Department of Biology, University of RochesterRochesterUnited States
| | - Cara L Brand
- Department of Biology, University of RochesterRochesterUnited States
| | - Christina A Muirhead
- Department of Biology, University of RochesterRochesterUnited States
- Ronin InstituteMontclairUnited States
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36
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Runge JN, Kokko H, Lindholm AK. Selfish migrants: How a meiotic driver is selected to increase dispersal. J Evol Biol 2022; 35:621-632. [PMID: 35255164 PMCID: PMC9311743 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that manipulate meiosis to increase their transmission to the next generation to the detriment of the rest of the genome. One example is the t haplotype in house mice, which is a naturally occurring meiotic driver with deleterious traits—poor fitness in polyandrous matings and homozygote inviability or infertility—that prevent its fixation. Recently, we discovered and validated a novel effect of t in a long‐term field study on free‐living wild house mice and with experiments: t‐carriers are more likely to disperse. Here, we ask what known traits of the t haplotype can select for a difference in dispersal between t‐carriers and wildtype mice. To that end, we built individual‐based models with dispersal loci on the t and the homologous wildtype chromosomes. We also allow for density‐dependent expression of these loci. The t haplotype consistently evolves to increase the dispersal propensity of its carriers, particularly at high densities. By examining variants of the model that modify different costs caused by t, we show that the increase in dispersal is driven by the deleterious traits of t, disadvantage in polyandrous matings and lethal homozygosity or male sterility. Finally, we show that an increase in driver‐carrier dispersal can evolve across a range of values in driver strength and disadvantages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan-Niklas Runge
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Hanna Kokko
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anna K Lindholm
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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37
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Pettie N, Llopart A, Comeron JM. Meiotic, genomic and evolutionary properties of crossover distribution in Drosophila yakuba. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1010087. [PMID: 35320272 PMCID: PMC8979470 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The number and location of crossovers across genomes are highly regulated during meiosis, yet the key components controlling them are fast evolving, hindering our understanding of the mechanistic causes and evolutionary consequences of changes in crossover rates. Drosophila melanogaster has been a model species to study meiosis for more than a century, with an available high-resolution crossover map that is, nonetheless, missing for closely related species, thus preventing evolutionary context. Here, we applied a novel and highly efficient approach to generate whole-genome high-resolution crossover maps in D. yakuba to tackle multiple questions that benefit from being addressed collectively within an appropriate phylogenetic framework, in our case the D. melanogaster species subgroup. The genotyping of more than 1,600 individual meiotic events allowed us to identify several key distinct properties relative to D. melanogaster. We show that D. yakuba, in addition to higher crossover rates than D. melanogaster, has a stronger centromere effect and crossover assurance than any Drosophila species analyzed to date. We also report the presence of an active crossover-associated meiotic drive mechanism for the X chromosome that results in the preferential inclusion in oocytes of chromatids with crossovers. Our evolutionary and genomic analyses suggest that the genome-wide landscape of crossover rates in D. yakuba has been fairly stable and captures a significant signal of the ancestral crossover landscape for the whole D. melanogaster subgroup, even informative for the D. melanogaster lineage. Contemporary crossover rates in D. melanogaster, on the other hand, do not recapitulate ancestral crossovers landscapes. As a result, the temporal stability of crossover landscapes observed in D. yakuba makes this species an ideal system for applying population genetic models of selection and linkage, given that these models assume temporal constancy in linkage effects. Our studies emphasize the importance of generating multiple high-resolution crossover rate maps within a coherent phylogenetic context to broaden our understanding of crossover control during meiosis and to improve studies on the evolutionary consequences of variable crossover rates across genomes and time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikale Pettie
- Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America
| | - Ana Llopart
- Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America
| | - Josep M. Comeron
- Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Rico-Ramírez AM, Pedro Gonçalves A, Louise Glass N. Fungal Cell Death: The Beginning of the End. Fungal Genet Biol 2022; 159:103671. [PMID: 35150840 DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2022.103671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Revised: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Death is an important part of an organism's existence and also marks the end of life. On a cellular level, death involves the execution of complex processes, which can be classified into different types depending on their characteristics. Despite their "simple" lifestyle, fungi carry out highly specialized and sophisticated mechanisms to regulate the way their cells die, and the pathways underlying these mechanisms are comparable with those of plants and metazoans. This review focuses on regulated cell death in fungi and discusses the evidence for the occurrence of apoptotic-like, necroptosis-like, pyroptosis-like death, and the role of the NLR proteins in fungal cell death. We also describe recent data on meiotic drive elements involved in "spore killing" and the molecular basis of allorecognition-related cell death during cell fusion of genetically dissimilar cells. Finally, we discuss how fungal regulated cell death can be relevant in developing strategies to avoid resistance and tolerance to antifungal agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adriana M Rico-Ramírez
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - A Pedro Gonçalves
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, 701, Taiwan
| | - N Louise Glass
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720.
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Kelemen RK, Elkrewi M, Lindholm AK, Vicoso B. Novel patterns of expression and recruitment of new genes on the t-haplotype, a mouse selfish chromosome. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20211985. [PMID: 35135349 PMCID: PMC8826135 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The t-haplotype of mice is a classical model for autosomal transmission distortion. A largely non-recombining variant of the proximal region of chromosome 17, it is transmitted to more than 90% of the progeny of heterozygous males through the disabling of sperm carrying a standard chromosome. While extensive genetic and functional work has shed light on individual genes involved in drive, much less is known about the evolution and function of the rest of its hundreds of genes. Here, we characterize the sequence and expression of dozens of t-specific transcripts and of their chromosome 17 homologues. Many genes showed reduced expression of the t-allele, but an equal number of genes showed increased expression of their t-copy, consistent with increased activity or a newly evolved function. Genes on the t-haplotype had a significantly higher non-synonymous substitution rate than their homologues on the standard chromosome, with several genes harbouring dN/dS ratios above 1. Finally, the t-haplotype has acquired at least two genes from other chromosomes, which show high and tissue-specific expression. These results provide a first overview of the gene content of this selfish element, and support a more dynamic evolutionary scenario than expected of a large genomic region with almost no recombination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reka K. Kelemen
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus, 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Marwan Elkrewi
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus, 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Anna K. Lindholm
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse, 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Beatriz Vicoso
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus, 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
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40
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Keegan G, Patten MM. Selfish evolution of placental hormones. Evol Med Public Health 2022; 10:391-397. [PMID: 36050940 PMCID: PMC9426663 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoac031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
We hypothesize that some placental hormones—specifically those that arise by tandem duplication of genes for maternal hormones—may behave as gestational drivers, selfish genetic elements that encourage the spontaneous abortion of offspring that fail to inherit them. Such drivers are quite simple to evolve, requiring just three things: a decrease in expression or activity of some essential maternal hormone during pregnancy; a compensatory increase in expression or activity of the homologous hormone by the placenta; and genetic linkage between the two effects. Gestational drive may therefore be a common selection pressure experienced by any of the various hormones of mammalian pregnancy that have arisen by tandem gene duplication. We examine the evolution of chorionic gonadotropin in the human lineage in light of this hypothesis. Finally, we postulate that some of the difficulties of human pregnancy may be a consequence of the action of selfish genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace Keegan
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University , Washington, DC 20057, USA
| | - Manus M Patten
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University , Washington, DC 20057, USA
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41
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Carioscia SA, Weaver KJ, Bortvin AN, Pan H, Ariad D, Bell AD, McCoy RC. A method for low-coverage single-gamete sequence analysis demonstrates adherence to Mendel's first law across a large sample of human sperm. eLife 2022; 11:76383. [PMID: 36475543 PMCID: PMC9844984 DOI: 10.7554/elife.76383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently published single-cell sequencing data from individual human sperm (n=41,189; 969-3377 cells from each of 25 donors) offer an opportunity to investigate questions of inheritance with improved statistical power, but require new methods tailored to these extremely low-coverage data (∼0.01× per cell). To this end, we developed a method, named rhapsodi, that leverages sparse gamete genotype data to phase the diploid genomes of the donor individuals, impute missing gamete genotypes, and discover meiotic recombination breakpoints, benchmarking its performance across a wide range of study designs. We then applied rhapsodi to the sperm sequencing data to investigate adherence to Mendel's Law of Segregation, which states that the offspring of a diploid, heterozygous parent will inherit either allele with equal probability. While the vast majority of loci adhere to this rule, research in model and non-model organisms has uncovered numerous exceptions whereby 'selfish' alleles are disproportionately transmitted to the next generation. Evidence of such 'transmission distortion' (TD) in humans remains equivocal in part because scans of human pedigrees have been under-powered to detect small effects. After applying rhapsodi to the sperm data and scanning for evidence of TD, our results exhibited close concordance with binomial expectations under balanced transmission. Together, our work demonstrates that rhapsodi can facilitate novel uses of inferred genotype data and meiotic recombination events, while offering a powerful quantitative framework for testing for TD in other cohorts and study systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara A Carioscia
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Kathryn J Weaver
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Andrew N Bortvin
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Hao Pan
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Daniel Ariad
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Avery Davis Bell
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaUnited States
| | - Rajiv C McCoy
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
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Berloco MF, Minervini CF, Moschetti R, Palazzo A, Viggiano L, Marsano RM. Evidence of the Physical Interaction between Rpl22 and the Transposable Element Doc5, a Heterochromatic Transposon of Drosophila melanogaster. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:1997. [PMID: 34946947 PMCID: PMC8701128 DOI: 10.3390/genes12121997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Revised: 12/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Chromatin is a highly dynamic biological entity that allows for both the control of gene expression and the stabilization of chromosomal domains. Given the high degree of plasticity observed in model and non-model organisms, it is not surprising that new chromatin components are frequently described. In this work, we tested the hypothesis that the remnants of the Doc5 transposable element, which retains a heterochromatin insertion pattern in the melanogaster species complex, can be bound by chromatin proteins, and thus be involved in the organization of heterochromatic domains. Using the Yeast One Hybrid approach, we found Rpl22 as a potential interacting protein of Doc5. We further tested in vitro the observed interaction through Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay, uncovering that the N-terminal portion of the protein is sufficient to interact with Doc5. However, in situ localization of the native protein failed to detect Rpl22 association with chromatin. The results obtained are discussed in the light of the current knowledge on the extra-ribosomal role of ribosomal protein in eukaryotes, which suggests a possible role of Rpl22 in the determination of the heterochromatin in Drosophila.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Francesca Berloco
- Department of Biology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70126 Bari, Italy; (M.F.B.); (R.M.); (A.P.)
| | - Crescenzio Francesco Minervini
- Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation (D.E.T.O.), Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation Unit, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy;
| | - Roberta Moschetti
- Department of Biology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70126 Bari, Italy; (M.F.B.); (R.M.); (A.P.)
| | - Antonio Palazzo
- Department of Biology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70126 Bari, Italy; (M.F.B.); (R.M.); (A.P.)
| | - Luigi Viggiano
- Department of Biology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70126 Bari, Italy; (M.F.B.); (R.M.); (A.P.)
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Mirsalehi A, Markova DN, Eslamieh M, Betrán E. Nuclear transport genes recurrently duplicate by means of RNA intermediates in Drosophila but not in other insects. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:876. [PMID: 34863092 PMCID: PMC8645118 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-08170-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The nuclear transport machinery is involved in a well-known male meiotic drive system in Drosophila. Fast gene evolution and gene duplications have been major underlying mechanisms in the evolution of meiotic drive systems, and this might include some nuclear transport genes in Drosophila. So, using a comprehensive, detailed phylogenomic study, we examined 51 insect genomes for the duplication of the same nuclear transport genes. Results We find that most of the nuclear transport duplications in Drosophila are of a few classes of nuclear transport genes, RNA mediated and fast evolving. We also retrieve many pseudogenes for the Ran gene. Some of the duplicates are relatively young and likely contributing to the turnover expected for genes under strong but changing selective pressures. These duplications are potentially revealing what features of nuclear transport are under selection. Unlike in flies, we find only a few duplications when we study the Drosophila duplicated nuclear transport genes in dipteran species outside of Drosophila, and none in other insects. Conclusions These findings strengthen the hypothesis that nuclear transport gene duplicates in Drosophila evolve either as drivers or suppressors of meiotic drive systems or as other male-specific adaptations circumscribed to flies and involving a handful of nuclear transport functions. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-021-08170-4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayda Mirsalehi
- Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19498, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA
| | - Dragomira N Markova
- Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19498, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA
| | - Mohammadmehdi Eslamieh
- Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19498, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA
| | - Esther Betrán
- Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19498, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA.
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45
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Muirhead CA, Presgraves DC. Satellite DNA-mediated diversification of a sex-ratio meiotic drive gene family in Drosophila. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:1604-1612. [PMID: 34489561 PMCID: PMC11188575 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01543-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Sex chromosomes are susceptible to the evolution of selfish meiotic drive elements that bias transmission and distort progeny sex ratios. Conflict between such sex-ratio drivers and the rest of the genome can trigger evolutionary arms races resulting in genetically suppressed 'cryptic' drive systems. The Winters cryptic sex-ratio drive system of Drosophila simulans comprises a driver, Distorter on the X (Dox) and an autosomal suppressor, Not much yang, a retroduplicate of Dox that suppresses via production of endogenous small interfering RNAs (esiRNAs). Here we report that over 22 Dox-like (Dxl) sequences originated, amplified and diversified over the ~250,000-year history of the three closely related species, D. simulans, D. mauritiana and D. sechellia. The Dxl sequences encode a rapidly evolving family of protamines. Dxl copy numbers amplified by ectopic exchange among euchromatic islands of satellite DNAs on the X chromosome and separately spawned four esiRNA-producing suppressors on the autosomes. Our results reveal the genomic consequences of evolutionary arms races and highlight complex interactions among different classes of selfish DNAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina A Muirhead
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
- Ronin Institute, Montclair, NJ, USA
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46
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Ali S, Zhang T, Lambing C, Wang W, Zhang P, Xie L, Wang J, Khan N, Zhang Q. Loss of chromatin remodeler DDM1 causes segregation distortion in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLANTA 2021; 254:107. [PMID: 34694462 DOI: 10.1007/s00425-021-03763-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In ddm1 mutants, the DNA methylation is primarily affected in the heterochromatic region of the chromosomes, which is associated with the segregation distortion of SNPs in the F2 progenies. Segregation distortion (SD) is common in most genetic mapping experiments and a valuable resource to determine how gene loci induce deviation. Meiotic DNA crossing over and SD are under the control of several types of epigenetic modifications. DNA methylation is an important regulatory epigenetic modification that is inherited across generations. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between SD and DNA methylation. The ecotypes Col-0/C24 and chromatin remodeler mutants ddm1-10/Col and ddm1-15/C24 were reciprocally crossed to obtain F2 generations. A total of 300 plants for each reciprocally crossed plant in the F2 generations were subjected to next-generation sequencing to detect the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as DNA markers. All SNPs were analyzed using the Chi-square test method to determine their segregation ratio in F2 generations. Through the segregation ratio, whole-genome SNPs were classified into 16 classes. In class 10, the SNPs in the reciprocal crosses of wild type showed the expected Mendelian ratio of 1:2:1, while those in the reciprocal crosses of ddm1 mutants showed distortion. In contrast, all SNPs in class 16 displayed a normal 1:2:1 ratio, and class 1 showed SD, regardless of wild type or mutants, as assessed using CAPS (cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences) marker analysis to confirm the next-generation sequencing. In ddm1 mutants, the DNA methylation is highly reduced throughout the whole genome and more significantly in the heterochromatic regions of chromosomes. Our results showed that the ddm1 mutants exhibit low levels of DNA methylation, which facilitates the SD of SNPs primarily located in the heterochromatic region of chromosomes by reducing the heterozygous ratio. The present study will provide a strong base for future research focusing on the impact of DNA methylation on trait segregation and plant evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahid Ali
- Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China
| | - Tianxu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China
- College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China
| | | | - Wanpeng Wang
- Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China
| | - Peng Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China
| | - Linan Xie
- Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China
- College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China
| | - Jiang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China
- College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China
| | - Naeem Khan
- Department of Agronomy, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Qingzhu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China.
- College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China.
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47
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Keaney TA, Jones TM, Holman L. Sexual selection can partly explain low frequencies of Segregation Distorter alleles. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211190. [PMID: 34583584 PMCID: PMC8479333 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The Segregation Distorter (SD) allele found in Drosophila melanogaster distorts Mendelian inheritance in heterozygous males by causing developmental failure of non-SD spermatids, such that greater than 90% of the surviving sperm carry SD. This within-individual advantage should cause SD to fix, and yet SD is typically rare in wild populations. Here, we explore whether this paradox can be resolved by sexual selection, by testing if males carrying three different variants of SD suffer reduced pre- or post-copulatory reproductive success. We find that males carrying the SD allele are just as successful at securing matings as control males, but that one SD variant (SD-5) reduces sperm competitive ability and increases the likelihood of female remating. We then used these results to inform a theoretical model; we found that sexual selection could limit SD to natural frequencies when sperm competitive ability and female remating rate equalled the values observed for SD-5. However, sexual selection was unable to explain natural frequencies of the SD allele when the model was parameterized with the values found for two other SD variants, indicating that sexual selection alone is unlikely to explain the rarity of SD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas A. Keaney
- School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Therésa M. Jones
- School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Luke Holman
- School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK
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48
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Mackintosh C, Pomiankowski A, Scott MF. X-linked meiotic drive can boost population size and persistence. Genetics 2021; 217:1-11. [PMID: 33683360 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyaa018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
X-linked meiotic drivers cause X-bearing sperm to be produced in excess by male carriers, leading to female-biased sex ratios. Here, we find general conditions for the spread and fixation of X-linked alleles. Our conditions show that the spread of X-linked alleles depends on sex-specific selection and transmission rather than the time spent in each sex. Applying this logic to meiotic drive, we show that polymorphism is heavily dependent on sperm competition induced both by female and male mating behavior and the degree of compensation to gamete loss in the ejaculate size of drive males. We extend these evolutionary models to investigate the demographic consequences of biased sex ratios. Our results suggest driving X-alleles that invade and reach polymorphism (or fix and do not bias segregation excessively) will boost population size and persistence time by increasing population productivity, demonstrating the potential for selfish genetic elements to move sex ratios closer to the population-level optimum. However, when the spread of drive causes strong sex-ratio bias, it can lead to populations with so few males that females remain unmated, cannot produce offspring, and go extinct. This outcome is exacerbated when the male mating rate is low. We suggest that researchers should consider the potential for ecologically beneficial side effects of selfish genetic elements, especially in light of proposals to use meiotic drive for biological control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl Mackintosh
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.,CoMPLEX, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Andrew Pomiankowski
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.,CoMPLEX, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Michael F Scott
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.,School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
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Verma P, Reeves RG, Gokhale CS. A common gene drive language eases regulatory process and eco-evolutionary extensions. BMC Ecol Evol 2021; 21:156. [PMID: 34372763 PMCID: PMC8351217 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-021-01881-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Synthetic gene drive technologies aim to spread transgenic constructs into wild populations even when they impose organismal fitness disadvantages. The extraordinary diversity of plausible drive mechanisms and the range of selective parameters they may encounter makes it very difficult to convey their relative predicted properties, particularly where multiple approaches are combined. The sheer number of published manuscripts in this field, experimental and theoretical, the numerous techniques resulting in an explosion in the gene drive vocabulary hinder the regulators’ point of view. We address this concern by defining a simplified parameter based language of synthetic drives. Results Employing the classical population dynamics approach, we show that different drive construct (replacement) mechanisms can be condensed and evaluated on an equal footing even where they incorporate multiple replacement drives approaches. Using a common language, it is then possible to compare various model properties, a task desired by regulators and policymakers. The generalization allows us to extend the study of the invasion dynamics of replacement drives analytically and, in a spatial setting, the resilience of the released drive constructs. The derived framework is available as a standalone tool. Conclusion Besides comparing available drive constructs, our tool is also useful for educational purpose. Users can also explore the evolutionary dynamics of future hypothetical combination drive scenarios. Thus, our results appraise the properties and robustness of drives and provide an intuitive and objective way for risk assessment, informing policies, and enhancing public engagement with proposed and future gene drive approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prateek Verma
- Research Group for Theoretical Models of Eco-evolutionary Dynamics, Department of Evolutionary Theory, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany.
| | - R Guy Reeves
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
| | - Chaitanya S Gokhale
- Research Group for Theoretical Models of Eco-evolutionary Dynamics, Department of Evolutionary Theory, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
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50
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Wei X, Eickbush DG, Speece I, Larracuente AM. Heterochromatin-dependent transcription of satellite DNAs in the Drosophila melanogaster female germline. eLife 2021; 10:e62375. [PMID: 34259629 PMCID: PMC8321551 DOI: 10.7554/elife.62375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Large blocks of tandemly repeated DNAs-satellite DNAs (satDNAs)-play important roles in heterochromatin formation and chromosome segregation. We know little about how satDNAs are regulated; however, their misregulation is associated with genomic instability and human diseases. We use the Drosophila melanogaster germline as a model to study the regulation of satDNA transcription and chromatin. Here we show that complex satDNAs (>100-bp repeat units) are transcribed into long noncoding RNAs and processed into piRNAs (PIWI interacting RNAs). This satDNA piRNA production depends on the Rhino-Deadlock-Cutoff complex and the transcription factor Moonshiner-a previously described non-canonical pathway that licenses heterochromatin-dependent transcription of dual-strand piRNA clusters. We show that this pathway is important for establishing heterochromatin at satDNAs. Therefore, satDNAs are regulated by piRNAs originating from their own genomic loci. This novel mechanism of satDNA regulation provides insight into the role of piRNA pathways in heterochromatin formation and genome stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolu Wei
- Department of Biomedical Genetics, University of Rochester Medical CenterRochesterUnited States
| | - Danna G Eickbush
- Department of Biology, University of RochesterRochesterUnited States
| | - Iain Speece
- Department of Biology, University of RochesterRochesterUnited States
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