All-female broods in the butterfly Hypolimnas bolina (L.)

1975 ◽  
Vol 189 (1094) ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Y Chromosome ◽  
High Mortality ◽  
Adult Stage ◽  
Pupal Stage ◽  
Meiotic Drive ◽  
Cytoplasmic Factor ◽  
Female Line ◽  
Reservoir Species ◽  
Very High

It has been known since 1924 that a proportion of females in the butterfly H. bolina produce only daughters, whereas others produce a 1:1 sex ratio. The present results confirm this, and show also that occasionally a few males are produced. The production of broods with a disturbed sex ratio is inherited entirely through the female line. By sexing the embryos and larvae cytologically and observing mortality in the embryos and late pupal stage we have obtained evidence that the deficiency of males is due to their very high mortality in the pre-adult stage. It is suggested that the abnormal sex ratio is due to an infective cytoplasmic factor (the presence of spirochaetes, as in Drosophila , having been ruled out), in contrast to Acraea encedon where meiotic drive of the Y chromosome has been postulated. The view is put forward that the polymorphism in H. bolina is maintained by the ‘infected’ females being at a slight disadvantage and that their numbers are maintained by contagion from an unidentified reservoir species.

Variation in Y chromosome meiotic drive in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae): a potential genetic approach to mosquito control

1997 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 617-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. O. Owusu-Daaku ◽  
R. J. Wood ◽  
R. D. Butler
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Y Chromosome ◽  
Reciprocal Cross ◽  
Mosquito Control ◽  
Meiotic Drive ◽  
Genetic Approach ◽  
Single Form ◽  
Ratio Distortion ◽  
Sex Ratio Distortion

AbstractReciprocal crosses between strains of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) from different geographical areas have revealed an unexpectedly complex pattern of holandrically inherited male biased sex ratios in F2. The variation has been interpreted in terms of a web of X–Y interactions in Fl, in which the Y chromosome may or may not show meiotic drive against the X chromosome with which it is paired. The pattern of inheritance is not in agreement with a single form of Y chromosome, driving with different degrees of intensity against Xs of different sensitivity, but indicates different forms of driving Y chromosome. A rule has emerged that if Fl males from any cross give rise to a male distorted sex ratio in their progeny (F2), the males from the reciprocal cross give rise to a normal sex ratio. All eleven newly colonized strains from Ghana showed Y meiotic drive against the Xs of five strains, one of American and four of Australian origin, although one of the eleven showed a greater degree of drive than the other ten against the same sensitive strains. The variation observed is discussed in relation to previous studies on meiotic drive by the MD haplotype, and to the possible exploitation of sex ratio distortion in controlling this potentially dangerous insect.

scholarly journals Rapid evolution of a Y-chromosome heterochromatin protein underlies sex chromosome meiotic drive

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (15) ◽  
pp. 4110-4115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin Helleu ◽  
Pierre R. Gérard ◽  
Raphaëlle Dubruille ◽  
David Ogereau ◽  
Benjamin Prud’homme ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Y Chromosome ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Meiotic Drive ◽  
Heterochromatin Protein 1 ◽  
Heterochromatin Protein ◽  
Intragenomic Conflict ◽  
Heterochromatin Structure ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

Sex chromosome meiotic drive, the non-Mendelian transmission of sex chromosomes, is the expression of an intragenomic conflict that can have extreme evolutionary consequences. However, the molecular bases of such conflicts remain poorly understood. Here, we show that a young and rapidly evolving X-linked heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) gene, HP1D2, plays a key role in the classical Paris sex-ratio (SR) meiotic drive occurring in Drosophila simulans. Driver HP1D2 alleles prevent the segregation of the Y chromatids during meiosis II, causing female-biased sex ratio in progeny. HP1D2 accumulates on the heterochromatic Y chromosome in male germ cells, strongly suggesting that it controls the segregation of sister chromatids through heterochromatin modification. We show that Paris SR drive is a consequence of dysfunctional HP1D2 alleles that fail to prepare the Y chromosome for meiosis, thus providing evidence that the rapid evolution of genes controlling the heterochromatin structure can be a significant source of intragenomic conflicts.

scholarly journals Sex-ratio Meiotic Drive in Drosophila simulans Is Related to Equational Nondisjunction of the Y Chromosome

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-236
Author(s):  
Michel Cazemajor ◽  
Dominique Joly ◽  
Catherine Montchamp-Moreau
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Y Chromosome ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Meiotic Drive ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Drosophila Simulans ◽  
Common Basis ◽  
Naturally Occurring

Abstract The sex-ratio trait, an example of naturally occurring X-linked meiotic drive, has been reported in a dozen Drosophila species. Males carrying a sex-ratio X chromosome produce an excess of female offspring caused by a deficiency of Y-bearing sperm. In Drosophila simulans, such males produce ~70–90% female offspring, and 15–30% of the male offspring are sterile. Here, we investigate the cytological basis of the drive in this species. We show that the sex-ratio trait is associated with nondisjunction of Y chromatids in meiosis II. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using sex-chromosome-specific probes provides direct evidence that the drive is caused by the failure of the resulting spermatids to develop into functional sperm. XYY progeny were not observed, indicating that few or no YY spermatids escape failure. The recovery of XO males among the progeny of sex-ratio males shows that some nullo-XY spermatids become functional sperm and likely explains the male sterility. A review of the cytological data in other species shows that aberrant behavior of the Y chromosome may be a common basis of sex-ratio meiotic drive in Drosophila and the signal that triggers differential spermiogenesis failure.

scholarly journals Modifier Genes of the Sex Ratio Trait in Drosophila pseudoobscura

Genetics ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-283
Author(s):  
Gary Cobbs
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Y Chromosome ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Drosophila Pseudoobscura ◽  
Sterile Male ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Very High ◽  
Chromosome Nondisjunction

ABSTRACT The msr trait of Drosophila pseudoobscura occurs when "sex-ratio" males produce a very high frequency of null-X sperm which give rise to sterile male (X/O) progeny. The trait involves dramatically lowered fecundity due to spermiogenic failure. The msr trait is multigenic and the genes are located on autosomes II, III and IV of the L116 laboratory stock. This stock also carries genes on the Y chromosome that lower the level of msr. When the genes on the L116 autosomes are present together or with those on the Y chromosome of other stocks, they interact cooperatively to produce very high levels of msr. The msr genes require the presence of a sex-ratio X chromosome to have any effect and thus may be regarded as modifiers of the "sex-ratio" phenotype. Crosses show that the genes causing msr are primarily recessive but have some expression when heterozygous. Sex chromosome nondisjunction is proposed as the mechanism underlying the msr trait.

scholarly journals PRELIMINARY CHARACTERIZATION OF "SEX RATIO" AND REDISCOVERY AND REINTERPRETATION OF "MALE SEX RATIO" IN DROSOPHILA AFFINIS

Genetics ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-606
Author(s):  
Robert A Voelker
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Y Chromosome ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Meiotic Drive ◽  
General Consideration ◽  
Female Progeny ◽  
Chromosome Sequence ◽  
Male Sex

ABSTRACT In D. affinis "sex ratio" (sr), a form of meiotic drive characterized by the production of mostly or only female progeny by certain males, is associated with two different X chromosome sequences, XS-I XL-II and XS-II XL-IV. The behavior of the two sequences differed, depending on the Y chromosome constitution, being either Y  L or 0. Males with sequence XS-II XL-IV and Y  L produced progenies with nearly normal sex ratios; males with the same X chromosome sequence but in the absence of a Y chromosome in some cases gave progenies with nearly normal sex ratios but in other cases gave progenies which tended toward phenotypic sr. Males with sequence XS-I XL-II and Y  L gave progenies which were characteristically sr (0.97–0.98 females); in the absence of a Y chromosome males with this sequence produced progenies which were virtually all-male. This latter finding is presumably identical to Novitski's (1947) "male sex ratio" (msr). The interpretation offered here attributes msr to an interaction between sr sequence XS-I XL-II and the 0 condition. A general consideration of the available data on sr in D. affinis is presented.

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