Newly Discovered Gene May Create a New Species

When two species breed, their offspring are often infertile. Take, for example, the mule, which is a cross between a horse and a donkey. Now, though, researchers have identified the "hybrid inviability gene," and may have learned a bit more about how new species are born.

"We knew for decades that something like this gene ought to exist, and our approach finally allowed us to identify it," said Nitin Phadnis, one of the researchers, in a news release.

The definition of a species is that it cannot breed successfully with another species. In order to better understand speciation, the researchers need to better understand how these reproductive barriers evolved.

In this case, the researchers found that the gene that makes fruit fly hybrids inviable-named gfzf-is a "cell cycle-regulation gene" or "cell cycle-checkpoint gene." This is normally involved in stopping cell division and replications if defects are detected. When mutated and disabled in the new study, though, the gene allowed the survival of male hybrids of two fruit fly species.

The fact that gfzf causes death or infertility in fruit fly hybrids is huge when it comes to cancer biology. This is because when cell cycle checkpoints "go bad" and cells proliferate in an uncontrolled manner, you can get cancer. This study, in particular, shows that some of the components in the cell cycle policing machinery may be quickly changing.

The findings reveal a bit more about the process of evolution, and about the cell cycle in general. This is especially important to note when trying to determine how closely each species is related.

The findings are published in the journal Science.

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