Selfish genetic elements are ubiquitous and may impact drastically on eukaryote reproduction and evolution. A recent experimental evolution study shows that such elements could also provide an explanation for polyandry.
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Pacmanvirus isolated from the Lost City hydrothermal field extends the concept of transpoviron beyond the family Mimiviridae.
ISME J
January 2025
Information Génomique & Structurale, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7256, Aix-Marseille University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IMM, IM2B, 13288, Marseille Cedex 9, France.
The microbial sampling of submarine hydrothermal vents remains challenging, with even fewer studies focused on viruses. Here we report the first isolation of a eukaryotic virus from the Lost City hydrothermal field, by co-culture with the laboratory host Acanthamoeba castellanii. This virus, named pacmanvirus lostcity, is closely related to previously isolated pacmanviruses (strains A23 and S19), clustering in a divergent clade within the long-established family Asfarviridae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEscalation of genome defense capacity enables control of an expanding meiotic driver.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125.
From RNA interference to chromatin silencing, diverse genome defense pathways silence selfish genetic elements to safeguard genome integrity. Despite their diversity, different defense pathways share a modular organization, where numerous specificity factors identify diverse targets and common effectors silence them. In the PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway, target RNAs are first identified by complementary base pairing with piRNAs and then silenced by PIWI-clade nucleases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen the 'selfish' brain and the 'selfish' immune system clash.
Nat Rev Neurosci
December 2024
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
Biased social chromosome transmission in males of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta.
G3 (Bethesda)
December 2024
University of Georgia, Department of Entomology, 120 Cedar St, Athens, GA, USA 30602.
Selfish genetic elements subvert the normal rules of inheritance to unfairly propagate themselves, often at the expense of other genomic elements and the fitness of individuals carrying them. Social life provides diverse avenues for the propagation of such elements. In the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, polymorphic social organization is controlled by a social chromosome, one variant of which (Sb) enhances its own transmission in polygyne colonies through effects on caste development and queen acceptance by workers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChromosome hitchhiking: a potential strategy adopted by the selfish yeast plasmids to ensure symmetric inheritance during cell division.
Biochem Soc Trans
December 2024
Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India.
The 2-micron plasmid residing within the host budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae nucleus serves as a model system for understanding the mechanism of segregation and stable maintenance of circular endogenously present extrachromosomal DNA in eukaryotic cells. The plasmid is maintained at a high average copy number (40-60 copies per yeast cell) through generations despite there is no apparent benefit to the host. Notably, the segregation mechanism of 2-micron plasmid shares significant similarities with those of bacterial low-copy-number plasmids and episomal forms of viral genomes in mammalian cells.
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