Figure 1.

Meiotic drive in fission yeast. (a) The driving Sk wtf4 gene makes two proteins: a trans‐acting poison that is first expressed prior to the meiotic divisions and a gamete‐specific antidote expressed after gamete (spore) individualization. The gametes that do not carry the wtf driver allele are destroyed. (b) The Sk wtf4 poison and antidote proteins are made using alternative transcripts. Other wtf genes appear to share the ability to make two transcripts (top). Verified drive genes are shown in bold. A second class of wtf genes (bottom) appears to encode only a long transcript that is similar to the antidote transcript of Sk wtf4. (c) Model describing the hypothesized mechanisms of how the Wtf^poison protein kills and how the Wtf^antidote proteins neutralize the poisons [Colour figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]