{
  "abstract": "Genetic conflict drives evolutionary innovation, yet most research has focused on arms races between selfish elements and their hosts. A second layer-competition among selfish elements-remains largely unexplored. Here, we uncover such a conflict between two antagonistic toxin-antidote elements (TAs), loki-1/sgyn-1 and thor-1/sif-1, in Caenorhabditis tropicalis. Each toxin, LOKI-1 or THOR-1, selectively kills progeny homozygous for the opposing haplotype, favoring heterozygotes. Their antidotes, SGYN-1 and SIF-1, evolved from F-box proteins, although SIF-1 subsequently lost its F-box domain. We solved the crystal structure of the THOR-1-SIF-1 complex and used in vivo mutagenesis to validate the binding interface, supporting direct toxin neutralization independently of F-box-mediated degradation. A survey of 676 wild isolates revealed two contrasting evolutionary outcomes of antagonizing TAs: independently evolved loki-1/sgyn-1 and thor-1/sif-1 remain confined to alternative hyperdivergent haplotypes, whereas other homologous TAs can recombine to form composite haplotypes. Altogether, our findings establish competition among selfish elements as a distinct form of genetic conflict, and support models in which antagonistic TAs act as barriers that restrict gene flow between neighboring populations.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Dr. Bohr-Gasse 3, 1030 Vienna, Austria.",
    "Vienna BioCenter PhD Program, Doctoral School of the University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, A-1030, Vienna, Austria.",
    "These authors contributed equally.",
    "Max Perutz Labs, Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Medical University of Vienna, Austria.",
    "Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Inserm, IBV, Nice, France."
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Alevtina Koreshova",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5661-8577"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Andreas Hagmüller"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Arda Kara"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Pinelopi Pliota",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1406-5978"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Tianhua Liao",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4818-9346"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "George Kobakhidze"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Joseph Gokcezade"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Peter Duchek"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Christian Braendle"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Gang Dong",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9745-8103"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Alejandro Burga",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0211-4357"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3phwvjy1w3pqv.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.22.760680",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.22.760680v1.full",
  "id": "3phwvjy1w3pqv",
  "issns": [
    "2692-8205"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.22.760680v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "evolutionary biology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1311|Evolution and Genetic Dynamics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223456808",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.22.760680v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13733741",
  "pmid": "42990224",
  "published": "2026-10-22",
  "publisher": "Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Preprints",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3phwvjy1w3pqv.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:29:24Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.22.760680",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.22.760680v2"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-08T12:23:27Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13733741",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.22.760680"
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  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:evolutionary biology",
      "subfield": "evolutionary-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Conflicts and coalitions among selfish toxin-antidote elements shape the evolution of hyperdivergent haplotypes",
  "title_text": "Conflicts and coalitions among selfish toxin-antidote elements shape the evolution of hyperdivergent haplotypes",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:23:27Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3phwvjy1w3pqv",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}