The researchers found that spores that inherited the driver gene
manufactured additional antidote protein inside the spore to neutralize
the poison and ensure their survival.
The team also discovered that a particular molecular switch that
controls many other genes involved in spore formation also controls the
expression of poison, but not antidote, from the wtf4 gene. The switch is essential for yeast reproduction and is inextricably linked to wtf4,
helping to explain why this selfish gene is so successful at evading any attempts by the host to disable the switch.
“One of the reasons we are thinking these things have stuck around
for so long – they’ve used this sneaky strategy of exploiting the same
essential switch that turns on yeast reproduction,” said Nidamangala
Srinivasa.
“If we could manipulate these DNA parasites to be expressed in
mosquitoes and drive their destruction, it may be a way to control pest
species,” said Nuckolls.
Additional authors include Anthony Mok, María Angélica Bravo Núñez, Ph.D., Jeffery Lange, Ph.D., Todd J. Gallagher, and Chris W. Seidel, Ph.D.
This work was funded by the Searle Award, the National Institutes
of General Medical Sciences (awards: R00GM114436, DP2GM132936), the
National Cancer Institute (award: F99CA234523), the Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (award:
F31HD097974) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and
institutional support from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not
necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
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