A natural fungal gene drive enacts killing through targeting DNA

Fungal spore-killers are a class of selfish genetic elements that positively bias their own inheritance by killing non-inheriting gametes following meiosis. As killing takes place specifically within the developing fungal ascus, a tissue which is experimentally difficult to isolate, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying spore killers are limited. In particular, how these loci kill other spores within the fungal ascus is largely unknown. Here we overcome these experimental barriers by developing model systems in two evolutionary distant organisms, Escherichia coli (bacterium) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast). Using these systems, we show that the Podospora anserina spore killer protein Spok1 enacts killing through targeting DNA. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.