Recombination shapes the diversification of the  wtf  meiotic drivers.
Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that distort fair segregation. The  wtf  genes are poison-antidote meiotic drivers that are experiencing rapid diversification in fission yeasts. However, gene duplication alone is insufficient to drive the diversification of  wtf  genes, given the poison encoded by a newly duplicated  wtf  gene can be detoxified by the antidote encoded by the original  wtf  gene. Here, we analyze the evolution of  wtf  genes across 21 strains of  Schizosaccharomyces pombe . Knocking out each of 25  wtf  genes in  S. pombe  strain 972h- separately does not attenuate the yeast growth, indicating that the  wtf  genes might be largely neutral to their carriers in asexual life cycle. Interestingly,  wtf  genes underwent recurrent and intricate recombination. As proof of principle, we generate a novel meiotic driver through artificial recombination between  wtf  drivers, and its encoded poison cannot be detoxified by the antidotes encoded by their parental  wtf  genes but can be detoxified by its own antidote. Therefore, we propose that recombination can generate new meiotic drivers and thus shape the diversification of the  wtf  drivers.
Wang Y, Xu H, He Q, Wu Z, Gong Z, Han GZ