Hongli Chen

TL;DR: The tight association of the CI genes with prophages provides clues to the possible evolutionary origin of this phenomenon and the levels of selection at play.

TL;DR: It is shown that the Wolbachia cin operon constitutes another toxin–antidote system in which CinB is a nuclease toxin and CinA binds tightly to CInB and can rescue embryo viability, providing important insights into the molecular basis of CI.

TL;DR: CidB targets nuclear-protein import and protamine-histone exchange and that CidA rescues embryos by restricting CidB access to its targets and this is proposed to be a rescue mechanism for embryos.

TL;DR: With the identity of the Wolbachia CI induction and rescue factors now known, research in the field has turned to directed studies on the molecular mechanisms of CI, which are reviewed here.

TL;DR: In this article, high-resolution structures of a CI-factor complex, CinA-CinB, were reported, which utilizes a unique binding mode between the CINA rescue factor and the CinB nuclease; the structures were validated by biochemical and yeast growth analyses.