Keywords: incompatibility

Hybrid incompatibilities in the anopheles gambiae species complex

A. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Genetically engineered insects with sex-selection and genetic incompatibility enable population suppression

A. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Number of Project Wolbachia mosquitoes released is constantly reviewed to maintain suppression of dengue: NEA

N. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Selfing is the safest sex for Caenorhabditis tropicalis

L. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Ubiquitous Selfish Toxin-Antidote Elements in Caenorhabditis Species

E. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Selfish genetic elements and male fertility

R. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Fruit fly breakthrough puts killer mozzies on notice

V. 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.
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Ubiquitous selfish toxin-antidote elements in Caenorhabditis species

E. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Artificial Selection Finds New Hypotheses for the Mechanism of Wolbachia-Mediated Dengue Blocking in Mosquitoes

S. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Standard deviations: The biological bases of transmission ratio distortion

L. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Genetic control of invasive plants species using selfish genetic elements

K. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Keywords: incompatibility

Hybrid incompatibilities in the anopheles gambiae species complex

A. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Genetically engineered insects with sex-selection and genetic incompatibility enable population suppression

A. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Number of Project Wolbachia mosquitoes released is constantly reviewed to maintain suppression of dengue: NEA

N. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Selfing is the safest sex for Caenorhabditis tropicalis

L. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Ubiquitous Selfish Toxin-Antidote Elements in Caenorhabditis Species

E. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Selfish genetic elements and male fertility

R. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Fruit fly breakthrough puts killer mozzies on notice

V. 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.
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Ubiquitous selfish toxin-antidote elements in Caenorhabditis species

E. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Artificial Selection Finds New Hypotheses for the Mechanism of Wolbachia-Mediated Dengue Blocking in Mosquitoes

S. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Standard deviations: The biological bases of transmission ratio distortion

L. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,

Genetic control of invasive plants species using selfish genetic elements

K. 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 ...
Keywords: , , , , , , ,