Keywords: Toxin-antitoxin

Selfish gene leaves bacteria behind

A. York,  Nature Reviews Microbiology,  2021.
Mitochondrial genome evolution is characterized by functional streamlining and gene loss, and gain-of-function gene transfers into the mitochondrial genome are considered rare events. Milner, et al. identified a functional restriction modification (R-M) system in the ...
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A functional bacteria-derived restriction modification system in the mitochondrion of a heterotrophic protist

D. A.-O. Milner, J. A.-O. Wideman, C. A.-O. Stairs, C. D. Dunn and T. A.-O. Richards,  PLoS Biology,  2021.
The overarching trend in mitochondrial genome evolution is functional streamlining coupled with gene loss. Therefore, gene acquisition by mitochondria is considered to be exceedingly rare. Selfish elements in the form of self-splicing introns occur in many organellar genomes, but ...
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Genetic conflicts: the usual suspects and beyond

McLaughlin, RNM, H. S.,  Journal of Experimental Biology,  220:6-17. 2017.
Selfishness is pervasive and manifests at all scales of biology, from societies, to individuals, to genetic elements within a genome. The relentless struggle to seek evolutionary advantages drives perpetual cycles of adaptation and counter-adaptation, commonly referred to as Red ...
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