Keywords: Genetic incompatibilities
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Transformation of meiotic drive into hybrid sterility in DrosophilaJackson Bladen, Hyuck-Jin Nam, Nitin Phadnis, bioRxiv, 2024.
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, ... |
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A natural gene drive element confers speciation in riceY. Li, S. Liu and R. Shen, Chinese Science Bulletin, 68:3400-3402. 2023.
For a long time, although many important advances have been made in the field of rice hybrid sterility, the specific molecular mechanism behind the "killer-protector"/ "poison-antidote" model has been unclear. Recently, the team of Academician Wan Jianmin of Nanjing Agricultural ... |
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The role of conflict in shaping plant biodiversityJ. M. Coughlan, New Phytologist, 2023.
Although intrinsic postzygotic reproductive barriers can play a fundamental role in speciation, their underlying evolutionary causes are widely debated. One hypothesis is that incompatibilities result from genomic conflicts. Here, I synthesize the evidence that conflict generates ... |
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Hybrid incompatibilities in the anopheles gambiae species complexA. Kriezis, Imperial College London, 2023.
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium which is responsible for approximately 400,000 deaths annually, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes belonging to the Anopheles gambiae species complex. While progress ... |
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Engineering stringent genetic biocontainment of yeast with a protein stability switchS. A. Hoffmann and Y. Cai, bioRxiv, 2022.11.24.517818. 2022.
Synthetic biology holds immense promise to tackle key problems we are facing, for instance in resource use, environmental health, and human health care. However, comprehensive safety measures are needed to deploy genetically engineered microorganisms in open-environment ... |
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Modeling-informed Engineered Genetic Incompatibility strategies to overcome resistance in the invasive Drosophila suzukiiA. Sychla, N. R. Feltman, W. D. Hutchison and M. J. Smanski, Frontiers in Insect Science, 2. 2022.
Engineered Genetic Incompatibility (EGI) is an engineered extreme underdominance genetic system wherein hybrid animals are not viable, functioning as a synthetic speciation event. There are several strategies in which EGI could be leveraged for genetic biocontrol of pest ... |
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Evolution of eukaryotic centromeres by drive and suppression of selfish genetic elementsT. Kumon and M. A. Lampson, Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2022.
Despite the universal requirement for faithful chromosome segregation, eukaryotic centromeres are rapidly evolving. It is hypothesized that rapid centromere evolution represents an evolutionary arms race between selfish genetic elements that drive, or propagate at the expense of ... |
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Genetically engineered insects with sex-selection and genetic incompatibility enable population suppressionA. Upadhyay, N. R. Feltman, A. Sychla, A. Janzen, S. R. Das, M. Maselko and M. Smanski, eLife, 11. 2022.
Engineered Genetic Incompatibility (EGI) is a method to create species-like barriers to sexual reproduction. It has applications in pest control that mimic Sterile Insect Technique when only EGI males are released. This can be facilitated by introducing conditional ... |
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Transmission distortion and genetic incompatibilities between alleles in a multigenerational mouse advanced intercross lineD. Arends, S. Kärst, S. Heise, P. Korkuc, D. Hesse and G. A. Brockmann, Genetics, 2021.
While direct additive and dominance effects on complex traits have been mapped repeatedly, additional genetic factors contributing to the heterogeneity of complex traits have been scarcely investigated. To assess genetic background effects, we investigated transmission ratio ... |
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A Sterile Solution: How Crispr Could Protect Wild SalmonL. Abend, UNDARK, 2021.
In an attempt to prevent escaped fish from interbreeding with their wild counterparts and threatening the latter’s genetic diversity, molecular biologist Anna Wargelius and her team at the Institute of Marine Research in Norway have spent years working on ways to induce ... |
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Gene tech to prevent crossbreeding could safely harness the power of gene drivesI. l. Guillou, The Science Advisory Board, 2021.
A new gene engineering technology could allow scientists to harness the benefits of releasing genetically modified animals into the wild without the risk of uncontrolled spread. The new study, published in the journal Nature Communications on June 2, could help in the battle ... |
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Scientists design new gene drive to stop the transmission of devastating diseasesE. Henderson, AZO Life Sciences, 2021.
CRISPR-based technologies offer enormous potential to benefit human health and safety, from disease eradication to fortified food supplies. As one example, CRISPR-based gene drives, which are engineered to spread specific traits through targeted populations, are being developed ... |
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Synthetic SPECIES developed for use as a confinable gene driveUniversity of California - San Diego, ScienceDaily, 2021.
CRISPR-based technologies offer enormous potential to benefit human health and safety, from disease eradication to fortified food supplies. As one example, CRISPR-based gene drives, which are engineered to spread specific traits through targeted populations, are being developed ... |
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Engineered reproductively isolated species drive reversible population replacementA. Buchman, I. Shriner, T. Yang, J. Liu, I. Antoshechkin, J. M. Marshall, M. W. Perry and O. S. Akbari, Nature Communications, 12:3281. 2021.
Engineered reproductive species barriers are useful for impeding gene flow and driving desirable genes into wild populations in a reversible threshold-dependent manner. However, methods to generate synthetic barriers are lacking in advanced eukaryotes. Here, to overcome this ... |
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Number of Project Wolbachia mosquitoes released is constantly reviewed to maintain suppression of dengue: NEAN. L. Ching, today, 2021.
Project Wolbachia – Singapore has yielded promising results so far.Releases of non-biting male Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes have suppressed the urban Aedes aegypti mosquito populations in study sites at Tampines and Yishun by up to 90 per cent, and we have observed 58 to 74 per ... |
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‘Clever Approach’: Scientists Create GM-Free Organisms Using Genetic EngineeringA. Paleja, The WIRE, 2021.
Farther to the north, researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a novel way to resolve this problem. They used genetic engineering to create organisms for release that are not genetically modified. Maciej Maselko was a postdoctoral associate at the university ... |
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Selfing is the safest sex for Caenorhabditis tropicalisL. M. Noble, J. Yuen, L. Stevens, N. D. Moya, R. Persaud, M. Moscatelli, J. L. Jackson, G. Zhang, R. Chitrakar, L. R. Baugh, C. Braendle, E. C. Andersen, H. S. Seidel and M. V. Rockman, eLife, 10:e62587. 2021.
We generated a chromosomal-scale genome for C. tropicalis and surveyed global diversity. Population structure is very strong, and islands of extreme divergence punctuate a genomic background that is highly homogeneous around the globe. Outbreeding depression in the laboratory is ... |
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Ubiquitous Selfish Toxin-Antidote Elements in Caenorhabditis SpeciesE. Ben-David, P. Pliota, S. A. Widen, A. Koreshova, T. Lemus-Vergara, P. Verpukhovskiy, S. Mandali, C. Braendle, A. Burga and L. Kruglyak, Current Biology, 2021.
Here, we report the discovery of maternal-effect TAs in both C. tropicalis and C. briggsae, two distant relatives of C. elegans. In C. tropicalis, multiple TAs combine to cause a striking degree of intraspecific incompatibility: five elements reduce the fitness of >70% of the ... |
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New insect species made via genetic engineeringL. Leffer, SCIENCELINE, 2020.
A biotech fast-forward button for evolution is on the horizon. Researchers say they have used a novel genetic engineering method to create several new species of fruit fly in the lab for the first time — an achievement which might help put a future without malaria and other ... |
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Selfish genetic elements and male fertilityR. L. Verspoor, T. A. R. Price and N. Wedell, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 375:7. 2020.
Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) are diverse and near ubiquitous in Eukaryotes and can be potent drivers of evolution. Here, we discuss SGEs that specifically act on sperm to gain a transmission advantage to the next generation. The diverse SGEs that affect sperm often impose ... |
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Fruit fly breakthrough puts killer mozzies on noticeV. Tressider, The Lighthouse, 2020.
A new designer fruit fly paves the way for scientists to replace disease-carrying mosquitoes with harmless, genetically modified versions, says Macquarie University researcher Dr Maciej Maselko. |
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Engineered Gene Drives: State of Research Webinar Series by The GeneConvene Global Collaborative September-October 2020David O'Brochta and Hector Quemada, GeneConvene Global Collaborative, 2020.
A series of technical webinars on engineered gene drive technology research and development given by leading researchers in the field. |
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The Evolving Arsenal Against Mosquito-Born DiseasesJ. Smith, Labiotech.eu, 2020.
As the global climate continues to warm, disease-spreading mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti are expected to establish themselves in the US and Europe. |
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Mutant mosquitoes: GM insects ‘engineered’ in ‘new approach to pest control’T. Fish, EXPRESS, 2020.
This cutting-edge research provides the foundations for plans to prevent genetically modified organisms from reproducing with wild organisms. |
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Engineering multiple species-like genetic incompatibilities in insectsM. Maselko, N. Feltman, A. Upadhyay, A. Hayward, S. Das, N. Myslicki, A. J. Peterson, M. B. O’Connor and M. J. Smanski, Nature Communications, 11:4468. 2020.
Here, we demonstrate a general approach to create engineered genetic incompatibilities (EGIs) in the model insect Drosophila melanogaster. |
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Engineering speciation events in insects may be used to control harmful pestsUniversity of Minnesota, Phys Org, 2020.
A team of scientists led by Mike Smanski, Ph.D., in the College of Biological Sciences (CBS) has generated speciation events in fruit flies so that engineered strains can reproduce normally with each other, but mating with unmodified flies results in non-viable offspring. |
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Prospects and Pitfalls: Next-Generation Tools to Control Mosquito-Transmitted DiseaseE. P. Caragata, S. Dong, Y. Dong, M. L. Simões, C. V. Tikhe and G. Dimopoulos, Annual Review of Microbiology, 74:455-475. 2020.
A diverse array of next-generation tools has been designed to eliminate mosquito populations or to replace them with mosquitoes that are less capable of transmitting key pathogens. |
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Non-GMO approach reduces cases of mosquito-borne dengue by 77%GM Watch, GM Watch, 2020.
A randomized field trial found that mosquitoes infected with a natural bacterium called Wolbachia reduced cases of dengue by an "extraordinary" 77%. |
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Bacteria-Laced Mosquitoes Limit Spread of DengueA. Heidt, The Scientist, 2020.
Researchers have infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes—the species responsible for passing on many diseases—with bacteria called Wolbachia with the intent of reducing the insects’ ability to pass on dengue to people. |
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Scientists infect mosquitoes with bacteria to stop the transmission of dengue fever in Indonesia, dropping infection rates by 77 percentD. Avery, Daily Mail, 2020.
The team found that dengue infections were 77 percent lower in treated neighborhoods, compared to areas not exposed to the infected insects. |
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GeneConvene Global Collaborative Webinar SeriesDavid O'Brochta and Hector Quemada, GeneConvene Global Collaborative, 2020.
This is a series of public scientific and technical seminars by researchers actively involved in the research and development of engineered gene drive and related systems. Presentations will be aimed at other researchers and scientists, highlighting the latest investigations in ... |
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The mosquito strategy that could eliminate dengueE. Callaway, Nature, 2020.
The study, conducted in an Indonesia city, showed that releasing mosquitoes modified to carry a bacterium called Wolbachia, which stops the insects from transmitting some viruses, led to a steep drop in cases of dengue fever. |
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Researchers Find New Approach To Control Dengue, Zika By Genetically Modifying MosquitoesN. Sharma, R. Republicworld.com, 2020.
A new study carried out in Indonesia has shown that dengue infection rates decreased in regions where the genetically modified mosquitoes were introduced. |
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Australian research takes aim at dengue, another killer virusE. Connors, Finanacial Review, 2020.
Australian researchers have teamed up with Indonesian philanthropists to strike a blow against dengue fever, the deadly disease that was a growing scourge in south-east Asia and South America long before COVID-19. |
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Australian scientists slash dengue fever in Indonesia by infecting mosquitoes with bacteriaA. Barker, ABC News, 2020.
Australian scientists may have found the secret to eradicating dengue fever, with a lengthy trial in Indonesia drastically reducing the incidence of the mosquito-borne virus. |
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Engineered Reproductively Isolated Species Drive Reversible Population ReplacementA. Buchman, I. Shriner, T. Yang, J. Liu, I. Antoshechkin, J. M. Marshall, M. W. Perry and O. S. Akbari, bioRxiv, 2020.08.09.242982. 2020.
Engineered reproductive species barriers are useful for impeding gene flow and driving desirable genes into wild populations in a reversible threshold-dependent manner. We engineer multiple reproductively isolated SPECIES and demonstrate their threshold-dependent gene drive ... |
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Ubiquitous selfish toxin-antidote elements in Caenorhabditis speciesE. Ben-David, P. Pliota, S. A. Widen, A. Koreshova, T. Lemus-Vergara, P. Verpukhovskiy, S. Mandali, C. Braendle, A. Burga and L. Kruglyak, bioRxiv, 2020.08.06.240564. 2020.
We discovered five maternal-effect Toxin/Antidotes (TAs) in the nematode Caenorhabditis tropicalis and one in C. briggsae. Unlike previously reported TAs, five of these novel toxins do not kill embryos but instead cause larval arrest or developmental delay. Our results show ... |
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Artificial Selection Finds New Hypotheses for the Mechanism of Wolbachia-Mediated Dengue Blocking in MosquitoesS. A. Ford, I. Albert, S. L. Allen, S. F. Chenoweth, M. Jones, C. Koh, A. Sebastian, L. T. Sigle and E. A. McGraw, Frontiers in Microbiology, 11:1456. 2020.
We recently used experimental evolution to reveal that Wolbachia-mediated dengue blocking could be selected upon in the A. aegypti host and showed evidence that strong levels of blocking could be maintained by natural selection. In this study, we investigate the genetic variation ... |
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Engineering multiple species-like genetic incompatibilities in insectsM. Maselko, N. Feltman, A. Upadhyay, A. Hayward, S. Das, N. Myslicki, A. J. Peterson, M. B. O’Connor and M. J. Smanski, bioRxiv, 2020.
Speciation constrains the flow of genetic information between populations of sexually reproducing organisms. Gaining control over mechanisms of speciation would enable new strategies to manage wild populations of disease vectors, agricultural pests, and invasive species. ... |
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The potential cost-effectiveness of controlling dengue in Indonesia using wMel Wolbachia released at scale: a modelling studyO. J. Brady, D. D. Kharisma, N. N. Wilastonegoro, K. M. Reilly, E. Hendricx, L. S. Bastos, L. Yakob and D. S. Shepard, medRxiv, 2020.01.11.20017186. 2020.
Wolbachia releases in high density urban areas is expected to be highly cost-effective and could potentially be the first cost saving intervention for dengue. Sites with strong public health infrastructure, fiscal capacity, and community support should be prioritized. |
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Standard deviations: The biological bases of transmission ratio distortionL. Fishman and M. McIntosh, Annual Review of Genetics, 53:347-372. 2019.
The rule of Mendelian inheritance is remarkably robust, but deviations from the equal transmission of alternative alleles at a locus [a.k.a. transmission ratio distortion (TRD)] are also commonly observed in genetic mapping populations. Such TRD reveals locus-specific selection ... |
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Transmission ratio distortion is frequent in Arabidopsis thaliana controlled crossesSeymour, DKC, E.; Arioz, B. I.; Koenig, D.; Weigel, D., Heredity, 122:294-304. 2019.
The equal probability of transmission of alleles from either parent during sexual reproduction is a central tenet of genetics and evolutionary biology. Yet, there are many cases where this rule is violated. The preferential transmission of alleles or genotypes is termed ... |
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Making a murderer: The evolutionary framing of hybrid gamete-killersSweigart, ALB, Yaniv; Fishman, Lila, Trends in Genetics, 35:245-252. 2019.
Recent molecular investigations of hybrid incompatibilities have revealed fascinating patterns of genetic interactions that have been interpreted as the remnants of a history of selfish evolution. Instead of framing hybrid incompatibilities in light of genetic conflict, we ... |
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Genetic control of invasive plants species using selfish genetic elementsK. A. Hodgins, L. Rieseberg and S. P. Otto, Evolutionary Applications, 2:555-569. 2009.
Invasive plants cause substantial environmental damage and economic loss. Here, we explore the possibility that a selfish genetic element found in plants called cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) could be exploited for weed control. We developed an analytical model and a spatial ... |
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TSETSE GENETICS: Contributions to Biology, Systematics, and Control of Tsetse FliesR. H. Gooding and E. S. Krafsur, Annual Review of Entomology, 50:101-123. 2005.
Tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae) constitute a small, ancient taxon of exclusively hematophagous insects that reproduce slowly and viviparously. Because tsetse flies are the only vectors of pathogenic African trypanosomes, they are a potent and constant threat to humans and ... |
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Experiments in the hybridisation of tsetse-flies (Glossina, Diptera) and the possibility of a new method of control.F. L. Vanderplank, Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London, 98:1-18. 1947.
Hybridisation of Glossina morsitans Westwood, G. swynnertoni Austen and G. pallidipes Austen was attempted in order to discover(a) Whether the three could be regarded as distinct species or as sub-species of morsitans ; (b) Whether they would mate freely with one another, and if ... |
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Tsetse hybridsW. H. Potts, Nature, 154:606-607. 1944.
IN 1936 I attempted to cross various species of tsetse (Glossina) with the idea that, should they hybridize readily, and should the resultant hybrids prove sterile, this might be tried as a measure of control. Corson had already, in 1932, obtained three offspring from crosses ... |
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Hybridization between Glossina Species and Suggested New Method for Control of Certain Species of TsetseF. L. Vanderplank, Nature, 154:607-608. 1944.
Corson and Potts record crossing Glossina swynnertoni Aust. with G. morsitans Westwood. Corson crossed twelve female G. morsitans with male G. swynnertoni, of which only two females produced a total of three pupæ. All his females lived long enough for reproduction to take place. ... |
