* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Friday, September 5, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    ITV Studios Launches New Entertainment Label – Global Bulletin – IMDb

    ITV Studios Unveils Exciting New Entertainment Label

    TS Entertainment bringing Malibu Jack’s to former Owensboro mall – Lane Report

    TS Entertainment Launches Malibu Jack’s at Former Owensboro Mall Location

    Jenny Han Dropped a Major ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Easter Egg Revealing [SPOILER] – yahoo.com

    Jenny Han Just Unveiled a Huge ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Easter Egg That Changes Everything [SPOILER]

    Liam Payne’s Cousin Ross Harris Honors Late Singer With Emotional Song ‘Bones’ – yahoo.com

    Liam Payne’s Cousin Ross Harris Honors Late Singer with Emotional New Song ‘Bones

    Country music star apologizes after drunken show ends with cops taking him down: ‘I’m not OK’ – PennLive.com

    Country Music Star Apologizes After Drunken Show Ends in Police Intervention: ‘I’m Not OK

    Comanche Nation Entertainment closes casino near Devol – KSWO 7News

    Comanche Nation Entertainment Closes Casino Near Devol in Surprising Move

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Gene Associated With Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers Identified – Technology Networks

    Breakthrough Discovery Uncovers Gene Behind Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers

    Monkey Island LNG Picks ConocoPhillips’ Liquefaction Technology – Hart Energy

    Monkey Island LNG Selects ConocoPhillips’ Advanced Liquefaction Technology for Next-Gen Energy Solutions

    Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (CRDO) Surpasses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates – Yahoo Finance

    Credo Technology Group Surpasses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Expectations

    The Economist is hiring a science and technology correspondent – The Economist

    Exciting Opportunity: Become Our Next Science and Technology Correspondent!

    Blockchain lender Figure Technology seeks to raise up to $526M in IPO (FIGR:Pending) – Seeking Alpha

    Blockchain Lender Figure Technology Sets Sights on $526M in Thrilling IPO Launch

    New Technology from Ramsey Theory Group Brings Diagnostic Testing and Telehealth Directly into Patients’ Homes – Yahoo Finance

    Revolutionary Ramsey Theory Technology Delivers Diagnostic Testing and Telehealth Right to Your Doorstep

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    ITV Studios Launches New Entertainment Label – Global Bulletin – IMDb

    ITV Studios Unveils Exciting New Entertainment Label

    TS Entertainment bringing Malibu Jack’s to former Owensboro mall – Lane Report

    TS Entertainment Launches Malibu Jack’s at Former Owensboro Mall Location

    Jenny Han Dropped a Major ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Easter Egg Revealing [SPOILER] – yahoo.com

    Jenny Han Just Unveiled a Huge ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Easter Egg That Changes Everything [SPOILER]

    Liam Payne’s Cousin Ross Harris Honors Late Singer With Emotional Song ‘Bones’ – yahoo.com

    Liam Payne’s Cousin Ross Harris Honors Late Singer with Emotional New Song ‘Bones

    Country music star apologizes after drunken show ends with cops taking him down: ‘I’m not OK’ – PennLive.com

    Country Music Star Apologizes After Drunken Show Ends in Police Intervention: ‘I’m Not OK

    Comanche Nation Entertainment closes casino near Devol – KSWO 7News

    Comanche Nation Entertainment Closes Casino Near Devol in Surprising Move

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Gene Associated With Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers Identified – Technology Networks

    Breakthrough Discovery Uncovers Gene Behind Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers

    Monkey Island LNG Picks ConocoPhillips’ Liquefaction Technology – Hart Energy

    Monkey Island LNG Selects ConocoPhillips’ Advanced Liquefaction Technology for Next-Gen Energy Solutions

    Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (CRDO) Surpasses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates – Yahoo Finance

    Credo Technology Group Surpasses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Expectations

    The Economist is hiring a science and technology correspondent – The Economist

    Exciting Opportunity: Become Our Next Science and Technology Correspondent!

    Blockchain lender Figure Technology seeks to raise up to $526M in IPO (FIGR:Pending) – Seeking Alpha

    Blockchain Lender Figure Technology Sets Sights on $526M in Thrilling IPO Launch

    New Technology from Ramsey Theory Group Brings Diagnostic Testing and Telehealth Directly into Patients’ Homes – Yahoo Finance

    Revolutionary Ramsey Theory Technology Delivers Diagnostic Testing and Telehealth Right to Your Doorstep

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Selfish, Virus-Like DNA Can Carry Genes Between Species

August 4, 2023
in Science
Selfish, Virus-Like DNA Can Carry Genes Between Species
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Previous studies of horizontal transfers have often focused on the mobile genetic elements called transposons. These privileged “jumping genes” can hop around the genome of an organism by replicating themselves and inserting their copies. Their sole concern is to promote their own survival within the genome rather than the fitness of the organism, which is why they are often categorized as “selfish” genes. Because roundworms have a rapid life cycle and a simple body plan, they are ideal model organisms for studying this kind of genetic parasitism.

Some roundworms carry a genetic element that is so fascinatingly selfish, the survival of offspring hinges on inheriting at least one copy of it. It contains a duo of genes, one encoding a toxic protein and one encoding an antidote that neutralizes the toxin. A mother worm that carries this element deposits the toxin in her eggs. When the eggs are fertilized, only offspring that can express the antidote gene survive. It is as if the toxin-antidote element has taken the worm’s genome hostage to ensure its propagation.

Pasting Genes Between Genomes

In 2021, when Israel Campo Bes was a graduate student at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, he sometimes worked late on looking for genes linked to the toxin-antidote genetic elements in various roundworms. One breezy summer night at almost 2 a.m., he noticed something. The toxin gene in one worm looked almost exactly like a gene for a different function in another species of worm. They were astonishingly similar — with nearly 97% nucleotide similarity. “It looked as if one worm had copied its genes and somehow pasted them into the genome of the other,” he said.

“I found it quite surprising as well,” said Alejandro Burga, the senior molecular geneticist at the laboratory. To uncover the origin of the shared elements, Burga and team decided to examine the surrounding DNA. They spotted repeated sequences in the DNA flanking the genes — a feature of transposons that aids their jumping within a genome by ensuring that the inserted copies keep the right orientation. The team also discovered the remnants of several viral genes: one for an enveloping capsid protein, one that commonly aids viral replication, and one for a “glue” that integrates viral DNA into a host genome.

“It was like an archaeological dig — we kept uncovering clues,” Burga said.

The complete picture of the genome revealed that the shuttled gene was embedded within a set of virus-like genes and a transposon, all of which Burga recognized as making up a Maverick.

Mavericks are an ancient and fragmented class of jumping genes prevalent in the genomes of protists, fungi and animals, including humans. These massive mobile elements were initially assumed to be inactive, mutated relics of obsolete genes. But later research revealed that Mavericks can be reactivated, and that they can mediate horizontal gene transfer between some species of protists. Complete, intact Mavericks had never been characterized in a multicellular organism. The roundworms therefore presented a rare opportunity to study them.

The Maverick in one of these roundworms, however, had an additional gene — one encoding a protein called a fusogen that enables a virus to fuse with a cell and transfer its genome into it. “Without fusogen, there would be no way for the virus to transfer its genes,” said Sonya Angeline Widen, a postdoctoral researcher in Burga’s laboratory and co-lead author with Bes of the new study. The discovery of the protein strongly suggested that this Maverick had the ability to form a virus-like particle and invade different cell types.

Mavericks Do the Unorthodox

Burga’s team quickly mined the roundworm genome database for other examples of genes embedded like cargo for transport in Mavericks. It soon became evident that the one they had found was not an isolated case of horizontal gene transfer. In more than 100 roundworm genomes spanning 11 or more genera, two families of genes had often been taken up as cargo by the Maverick particles and extensively transferred between species. Complete and incomplete remains of the genetic elements permeated different worm populations around the globe, from North America to India to a kilometer-deep gold mine in South Africa.

Although the circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that this Maverick enabled the horizontal transfer of genes between the roundworm species, researchers have not yet caught it in the act. Burga and his team recognize that their important next step will be to find a way to induce virus-like Maverick particles to form while they observe them under a microscope.

The work could have a practical benefit. Many roundworm species are parasites that infect agricultural crops and livestock. If researchers understand how Mavericks work, it might be possible to use them to control the parasites by introducing genes into them.

“It is not something we can do right way,” Burga said, “but hopefully in a few years.”

There is reason to believe that gene transfer using massive transposons may be more common in nature. Recent research led by Aaron Vogan of Uppsala University in Sweden has found massive mobile genetic elements called Starships that shuttle genes around in multiple species of fungi. Vogan suspects that Starships transferring key genes between fungal pathogens may have created the new strains that cause rolling epidemics of wheat diseases, such as tan spot (yellow leaf spot). The diseases have caused major crop losses worldwide since the 1970s, with over 50% loss of harvest in extreme cases. “So understanding the dynamics of changes in genome from such horizontal gene transfer has impacts all across biology,” Vogan said.

Researchers have come to appreciate that transposon-like genetic elements are “key drivers of genome evolution,” Zanders said. To really understand genomes, we must understand these “selfish elements” that can jump between species, she added.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Quanta Magazine – https://www.quantamagazine.org/selfish-virus-like-dna-can-carry-genes-between-species-20230803/

Tags: scienceSelfishVirus-Like
Previous Post

The South African Banyana Banyana make ‘herstory’

Next Post

Tidball fulfils a dream inspired by Hoy and Wiggins after stunning gold

Fears of US recession as economy adds just 22,000 jobs – The Times

Fears of US recession as economy adds just 22,000 jobs – The Times

September 5, 2025
Musiq Soulchild Surprises Fan’s Bride With “Dontchange” Wedding Serenade – yahoo.com

Musiq Soulchild Captivates Wedding Guests with Heartfelt Serenade of “Don’tchange

September 5, 2025
States fight feds over future of school mental health services – Courthouse News Service

States Clash with Federal Government Over the Future of School Mental Health Services

September 5, 2025
The Florida GOP ending vaccine mandates is playing with fire – CNN

Florida GOP’s Move to End Vaccine Mandates Could Spark Serious Consequences

September 5, 2025
George M. Sutton Urban Wilderness in Norman to Undergo Ecological Restoration Project in September – Hoodline

Transforming George M. Sutton Urban Wilderness: Exciting Ecological Restoration Kicks Off This September

September 5, 2025
White House cuts to science funding threaten AI weather forecasting institute – NBC News

White House Funding Cuts Jeopardize Future of AI-Powered Weather Forecasting Institute

September 5, 2025
The Mediterranean diet has benefits backed by science – ECB Publishing, Inc.

Unlock the Powerful Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet Backed by Science

September 5, 2025
Retire in This Asian Country for a Warm Culture and Relaxed Lifestyle – Kiplinger

Retire in This Asian Country for a Warm Culture and Relaxed Lifestyle – Kiplinger

September 5, 2025
Gene Associated With Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers Identified – Technology Networks

Breakthrough Discovery Uncovers Gene Behind Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers

September 5, 2025
YouTube’s NFL Broadcast Will Test Platform’s Ability to Handle Live Sports – The New York Times

YouTube’s NFL Broadcast Will Test Platform’s Ability to Handle Live Sports – The New York Times

September 5, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (808)
  • Economy (827)
  • Entertainment (21,704)
  • General (16,873)
  • Health (9,868)
  • Lifestyle (840)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (828)
  • Politics (834)
  • Science (16,037)
  • Sports (21,325)
  • Technology (15,807)
  • World (807)

Recent News

Fears of US recession as economy adds just 22,000 jobs – The Times

Fears of US recession as economy adds just 22,000 jobs – The Times

September 5, 2025
Musiq Soulchild Surprises Fan’s Bride With “Dontchange” Wedding Serenade – yahoo.com

Musiq Soulchild Captivates Wedding Guests with Heartfelt Serenade of “Don’tchange

September 5, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version