PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Eyal Ben-David
AU  - Pinelopi Pliota
AU  - Sonya A. Widen
AU  - Alevtina Koreshova
AU  - Tzitziki Lemus-Vergara
AU  - Philipp Verpukhovskiy
AU  - Sridhar Mandali
AU  - Christian Braendle
AU  - Alejandro Burga
AU  - Leonid Kruglyak
TI  - Ubiquitous selfish toxin-antidote elements in <em>Caenorhabditis</em> species
AID  - 10.1101/2020.08.06.240564
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.08.06.240564
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/07/2020.08.06.240564.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/07/2020.08.06.240564.full
AB  - Toxin-antidote elements (TAs) are selfish genetic dyads that spread in populations by selectively killing non-carriers. TAs are common in prokaryotes, but few examples are known in animals. We discovered five maternal-effect 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. We identified the genes underlying a TA causing developmental delay, slow-1/grow-1, and found that the toxin, slow-1, is homologous to nuclear hormone receptors. Last, we found that balancing selection of conflicting TAs hampers their ability to drive in populations, leading to more stable genetic incompatibilities. Our results show that TAs are common in Caenorhabditis species, target a wide range of developmental processes, and may act as barriers preventing gene flow.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.