Meiotic drive does not cause condition‐dependent reduction of the sexual ornament in stalk‐eyed flies

Abstract In Drosophila melanogaster, deletions of the pericentromeric X heterochromatin cause X-Y nondisjunction, reduced male fertility and distorted sperm recovery ratios (meiotic drive) in combination with a normal Y chromosome and interact with Y-autosome translocations (T(Y;A)) to cause complete male sterility. The pericentromeric heterochromatin has been shown to contain the male-specific X-Y meiotic pairing sites, which consist mostly of a 240-bp repeated sequence in the intergenic spacers (IGS) of the rDNA repeats. The experiments in this paper address the relationship between X-Y pairing failure and the meiotic drive and sterility effects of Xh deletions. X-linked insertions either of complete rDNA repeats or of rDNA fragments that contain the IGS were found to suppress X-Y nondisjunction and meiotic drive in Xh−/Y males, and to restore fertility to Xh−/T(Y;A) males for eight of nine tested Y-autosome translocations. rDNA fragments devoid of IGS repeats proved incapable of suppressing either meiotic drive or chromosomal sterility. These results indicate that the various spermatogenic disruptions associated with X heterochromatic deletions are all consequences of X-Y pairing failure. We interpret these findings in terms of a novel model in which misalignment of chromosomes triggers a checkpoint that acts by disabling the spermatids that derive from affected spermatocytes.

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Further Evidence Consistent With Stellate's Involvement in Meiotic Drive

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/142.2.641 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 142 (2) ◽

pp. 641-643 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Laurence D Hurst

Keyword(s):

Meiotic Drive

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Genetic and Molecular Characterization of sting, a Gene Involved in Crystal Formation and Meiotic Drive in the Male Germ Line of Drosophila melanogaster

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/151.2.749 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 151 (2) ◽

pp. 749-760 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Armin Schmidt ◽

Gioacchino Palumbo ◽

Maria P Bozzetti ◽

Patrizia Tritto ◽

Sergio Pimpinelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Amino Acids ◽

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Null Allele ◽

Germ Line ◽

Meiotic Drive ◽

P Element ◽

Crystal Formation ◽

Male Sterile ◽

Male Sterile Mutation

Abstract The sting mutation, caused by a P element inserted into polytene region 32D, was isolated by a screen for male sterile insertions in Drosophila melanogaster. This sterility is correlated with the presence of crystals in spermatocytes and spermatids that are structurally indistinguishable from those produced in males carrying a deficiency of the Y-linked crystal (cry) locus. In addition, their morphology is needle-like in Ste+ flies and star-shaped in Ste flies, once again as observed in cry– males. The sti mutation leads to meiotic drive of the sex chromosomes, and the strength of the phenomenon is correlated with the copy number of the repetitive Ste locus. The same correlation is also true for the penetrance of the male sterile mutation. A presumptive sti null allele results in male sterility and lethal maternal effect. The gene was cloned and shown to code for a putative protein that is 866 amino acids long. A C-terminal domain of 82 amino acids is identified that is well conserved in proteins from different organisms. The gene is expressed only in the germline of both sexes. The interaction of sting with the Ste locus can also be demonstrated at the molecular level. While an unprocessed 8-kb Ste primary transcript is expressed in wild-type males, in X/Y homozygous sti males, as in X/Y cry– males, a 0.7-kb mRNA is produced.

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XChromosome Effect on Maternal Recombination and Meiotic Drive in the Mouse

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/161.4.1651 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 161 (4) ◽

pp. 1651-1659 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Elena de la Casa-Esperón ◽

J Concepción Loredo-Osti ◽

Fernando Pardo-Manuel de Villena ◽

Tammi L Briscoe ◽

Jan Michel Malette ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mouse Chromosome ◽

X Chromosome ◽

Meiotic Recombination ◽

Meiotic Drive ◽

X Chromosome Inactivation ◽

Chromosome Inactivation ◽

Chromosome 11 ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Mouse Chromosome 11 ◽

Segregation Of Chromosomes

AbstractWe observed that maternal meiotic drive favoring the inheritance of DDK alleles at the Om locus on mouse chromosome 11 was correlated with the X chromosome inactivation phenotype of (C57BL/ 6-Pgk1a × DDK)F1 mothers. The basis for this unexpected observation appears to lie in the well-documented effect of recombination on meiotic drive that results from nonrandom segregation of chromosomes. Our analysis of genome-wide levels of meiotic recombination in females that vary in their X-inactivation phenotype indicates that an allelic difference at an X-linked locus is responsible for modulating levels of recombination in oocytes.

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Sex Chromosome Meiotic Drive in Stalk-Eyed Flies

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/147.3.1169 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 147 (3) ◽

pp. 1169-1180 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Daven C Presgraves ◽

Emily Severance ◽

Gerald S Willrinson

Keyword(s):

Sex Ratio ◽

Sex Chromosome ◽

Sex Ratios ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Meiotic Drive ◽

Operational Sex Ratio ◽

Genetic Modifiers ◽

Ratio Distortion ◽

The Impact ◽

Sex Ratio Distortion

Meiotically driven sex chromosomes can quickly spread to fixation and cause population extinction unless balanced by selection or suppressed by genetic modifiers. We report results of genetic analyses that demonstrate that extreme female-biased sex ratios in two sister species of stalk-eyed flies, Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni and C. whitei, are due to a meiotic drive element on the X chromosome (Xd). Relatively high frequencies of Xd in C. dalmanni and C. whitei (13–17% and 29%, respectively) cause female-biased sex ratios in natural populations of both species. Sex ratio distortion is associated with spermatid degeneration in male carriers of Xd. Variation in sex ratios is caused by Y-linked and autosomal factors that decrease the intensity of meiotic drive. Y-linked polymorphism for resistance to drive exists in C. dalmanni in which a resistant Y chromosome reduces the intensity and reverses the direction of meiotic drive. When paired with Xd, modifying Y chromosomes (Ym) cause the transmission of predominantly Y-bearing sperm, and on average, production of 63% male progeny. The absence of sex ratio distortion in closely related monomorphic outgroup species suggests that this meiotic drive system may predate the origin of C. whitei and C. dalmanni. We discuss factors likely to be involved in the persistence of these sex-linked polymorphisms and consider the impact of Xd on the operational sex ratio and the intensity of sexual selection in these extremely sexually dimorphic flies.

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SPERM PREFERENCE IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER †

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/71.3.417 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 71 (3) ◽

pp. 417-427

Author(s):

D Childress ◽

D L Hartl

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Reproductive Tract ◽

Meiotic Drive ◽

Prior Exposure ◽

Different Types

Abstract A mating is described in which the females appear actively to discriminate against one of the genotypes of sperm. The males in the mating carry T(1;4)B S , and the sperm type selected against is the B S+4-bearing segregant. Prior exposure of the reproductive tract of the females to B S+4-bearing sperm seems to enhance the ability of the females to subsequently discriminate against B S+4-bearing sperm. Thus it appears that at least some females of Drosophila melanogaster do possess a mechanism whereby different types of sperm can be distinguished—the sperm preference observed in this system appears to be independent of the meiotic drive in the T(1;4)B S males.

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