The population dynamics of maternal-effect selfish genes.

Maternal-effect selfish genes in flour beetles.

A previously unknown class of dominant, maternal-effect lethal M factors was found to be widespread in natural populations of the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, collected on several continents. Such factors are integrated into the host chromosomes at variable locations and show the remarkable property of self-selection by maternal-effect lethality to all hatchlings that do not inherit a cop...

P-65: Maternal Effect Genes in Mammalian Reproduction

Background: Regulation of gene expression in mammalian embryos is not completely known. Pre-implantation embryos need maternal RNA and proteins synthesized during oogenesis, to regulate development before mater-embryo transition, as the grown oocyte and the 1-cell zygote are transcriptionally silent. There are some oocyte-specific genes called maternal effect genes which may account for this ea...

A synthetic maternal-effect selfish genetic element drives population replacement in Drosophila.

One proposed strategy for controlling the transmission of insect-borne pathogens uses a drive mechanism to ensure the rapid spread of transgenes conferring disease refractoriness throughout wild populations. Here, we report the creation of maternal-effect selfish genetic elements in Drosophila that drive population replacement and are resistant to recombination-mediated dissociation of drive an...

Supporting Online Material for A Synthetic Maternal-Effect Selfish Genetic Element Drives Population Replacement in Drosophila

The maternal-effect, selfish genetic element Medea is associated with a composite Tc1 transposon.

Maternal-Effect Dominant Embryonic Arrest ("Medea") factors are selfish nuclear elements that combine maternal-lethal and zygotic-rescue activities to gain a postzygotic survival advantage. We show that Medea(1) activity in Tribolium castaneum is associated with a composite Tc1 transposon inserted just downstream of the neurotransmitter reuptake symporter bloated tubules (blot), whose Drosophil...