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Comment
. 2024 Dec 10;121(50):e2420620121.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2420620121. Epub 2024 Dec 2.

Killer meiotic drive executed by two alternative conformations of a single protein

Sarah E Zanders  1   2 , Gerald R Smith  3
Affiliations
Comment

Killer meiotic drive executed by two alternative conformations of a single protein

Sarah E Zanders et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Selective killing of cells not inheriting the meiotic-drive gene tdk1+. During meiosis chromosomes are replicated once, but there are two nuclear divisions, resulting in four haploid progeny (spores in fungi). In a diploid heterozygous for tdk1+ and tdk1Δ, two spores inherit tdk1+ and will survive, but the other two do not inherit tdk1+ and will die. Tdk1 synthesized before spore formation makes a megacluster of thousands of Tdk1 proteins in each spore. The megaclusters bind Bdf1, which is widely associated with chromosomes. In tdk1Δ spores, the megaclusters remain intact and prevent chromosome segregation during germination. Spores that inherit tdk1+ synthesize additional Tdk1 during germination, which assumes a different conformation that can resolve the megacluster, releasing the chromosomes for proper segregation. Thus, the tdk1+ gene favorably biases its own transmission into the viable meiotic products (meiotic drive). In two papers, Hua et al. show that Tdk1 can assume either of two conformations depending on the cell in which it is synthesized, and they elucidate the other aspects of Tdk1 as indicated here, including its interaction with Bdf1 and consequent blockage of chromosome segregation.
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References

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