Mechanism of an animal toxin-antidote system.

Toxin-antidote systems are selfish genetic elements composed of a linked toxin and antidote. The toxin-antidote system in consists of a transmembrane toxin protein PEEL-1 which acts cell autonomously to kill cells. Here we investigate the molecular mechanism of PEEL-1 toxicity.

Recurrent but Short-Lived Duplications of Centromeric Proteins in Holocentric Caenorhabditis Species.

Centromeric histones (CenH3s) are essential for chromosome inheritance during cell division in most eukaryotes. CenH3 genes have rapidly evolved and undergone repeated gene duplications and diversification in many plant and animal species. In Caenorhabditis species, two independent duplications of CenH3 (named hcp-3 for HoloCentric chromosome-binding Protein 3) were previously identified in C.

Hybridization promotes asexual reproduction in Caenorhabditis nematodes.

Although most unicellular organisms reproduce asexually, most multicellular eukaryotes are obligately sexual. This implies that there are strong barriers that prevent the origin or maintenance of asexuality arising from an obligately sexual ancestor. By studying rare asexual animal species we can gain a better understanding of the circumstances that facilitate their evolution from a sexual ancestor.

Pirated Siderophores Promote Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis.

In microbial communities, bacteria chemically and physically interact with one another. Some of these interactions are mediated by secreted specialized metabolites that act as either intraspecies or interspecies signals to alter gene expression and to change cell physiology. is a well-characterized soil microbe that can differentiate into multiple cell types, including metabolically dormant endospores.

Draft Genome Sequence of Bacillus luciferensis Isolated from Soil.

Bacillus luciferensis is a Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, motile rod. Here, we report the first draft genome sequence, to our knowledge, of a B. luciferensis strain (CH01), which will provide useful information for Bacillus and soil bacteria research.