scholarly journals Association of polyandry and sex-ratio drive prevalence in natural populations of Drosophila neotestacea

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1769) ◽  
pp. 20131397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl A. Pinzone ◽  
Kelly A. Dyer

Selfish genetic elements bias their own transmission to the next generation, even at the expense of the fitness of their carrier. Sex-ratio (SR) meiotic drive occurs when an X-chromosome causes Y-bearing sperm to die during male spermatogenesis, so that it is passed on to all of the male's offspring, which are all daughters. How SR is maintained as a stable polymorphism in the absence of genetic suppressors of drive is unknown. Here, we investigate the potential for the female remating rate to affect SR dynamics in natural populations, using the fly Drosophila neotestacea . In controlled laboratory conditions, females from populations where SR is rare mate more often than females from populations where SR is common. Furthermore, only when males mate multiply does the average fertility of SR males relative to wild-type males decrease to a level that can prevent SR from spreading. Our results suggest that differences in the female mating rate among populations may contribute to SR dynamics in the wild, and thus also affect the outcome of this intragenomic conflict. In line with this, we also present evidence of a localized population crash due to SR that may have resulted from habitat fragmentation along with a reduced mating rate.

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1783) ◽  
pp. 20133259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom A. R. Price ◽  
Amanda Bretman ◽  
Ana C. Gradilla ◽  
Julia Reger ◽  
Michelle L. Taylor ◽  
...  

The extent of female multiple mating (polyandry) can strongly impact on the intensity of sexual selection, sexual conflict, and the evolution of cooperation and sociality. More subtly, polyandry may protect populations against intragenomic conflicts that result from the invasion of deleterious selfish genetic elements (SGEs). SGEs commonly impair sperm production, and so are likely to be unsuccessful in sperm competition, potentially reducing their transmission in polyandrous populations. Here, we test this prediction in nature. We demonstrate a heritable latitudinal cline in the degree of polyandry in the fruitfly Drosophila pseudoobscura across the USA, with northern population females remating more frequently in both the field and the laboratory. High remating was associated with low frequency of a sex-ratio-distorting meiotic driver in natural populations. In the laboratory, polyandry directly controls the frequency of the driver by undermining its transmission. Hence we suggest that the cline in polyandry represents an important contributor to the cline in sex ratio in nature. Furthermore, as the meiotic driver causes sex ratio bias, variation in polyandry may ultimately determine population sex ratio across the USA, a dramatic impact of female mating decisions. As SGEs are ubiquitous it is likely that the reduction of intragenomic conflict by polyandry is widespread.


2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Montchamp-Moreau

The sex-ratio trait, reported in a dozen Drosophila species, is a type of naturally occurring meiotic drive in which the driving elements are located on the X chromosome. Typically, as the result of a shortage of Y-bearing spermatozoa, males carrying a sex-ratio X chromosome produce a large excess of female offspring. The presence of sex-ratio chromosomes in a species can have considerable evolutionary consequences, because they can affect individual fitness and trigger extended intragenomic conflict. Here, I present the main results of the study performed in Drosophila simulans. In this species, the loss of Y-bearing spermatozoa is related to the inability of the Y chromosome sister-chromatids to separate properly during meiosis II. Fine genetic mapping has shown that the primary sex-ratio locus on the X chromosome contains two distorter elements acting synergistically, both of which are required for drive expression. One element has been genetically mapped to a tandem duplication. To infer the natural history of the trait, the pattern of DNA sequence polymorphism in the surrounding chromosomal region is being analysed in natural populations of D. simulans harbouring sex-ratio X chromosomes. Initial results have revealed the recent spread of a distorter allele.


2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1917) ◽  
pp. 20192529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly A. Dyer ◽  
David W. Hall

Understanding the pleiotropic consequences of gene drive systems on host fitness is essential to predict their spread through a host population. Here, we study sex-ratio (SR) X-chromosome drive in the fly Drosophila recens , where SR causes the death of Y-bearing sperm in male carriers. SR males only sire daughters, which all carry SR, thus giving the chromosome a transmission advantage. The prevalence of the SR chromosome appears stable, suggesting pleiotropic costs. It was previously shown that females homozygous for SR are sterile, and here, we test for additional fitness costs of SR. We found that females heterozygous for SR have reduced fecundity and that male SR carriers have reduced fertility in conditions of sperm competition. We then use our fitness estimates to parametrize theoretical models of SR drive and show that the decrease in fecundity and sperm competition performance can account for the observed prevalence of SR in natural populations. In addition, we found that the expected equilibrium frequency of the SR chromosome is particularly sensitive to the degree of multiple mating and performance in sperm competition. Together, our data suggest that the mating system of the organism should be carefully considered during the development of gene drive systems.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackson Champer ◽  
Isabel Kim ◽  
Samuel E. Champer ◽  
Andrew G. Clark ◽  
Philipp W. Messer

ABSTRACTRapid evolutionary processes can produce drastically different outcomes when studied in panmictic population models versus spatial models where the rate of evolution is limited by dispersal. One such process is gene drive, which allows “selfish” genetic elements to quickly spread through a population. Engineered gene drive systems are being considered as a means for suppressing disease vector populations or invasive species. While laboratory experiments and modeling in panmictic populations have shown that such drives can rapidly eliminate a population, it is not yet clear how well these results translate to natural environments where individuals inhabit a continuous landscape. Using spatially explicit simulations, we show that instead of population elimination, release of a suppression drive can result in what we term “chasing” dynamics. This describes a condition in which wild-type individuals quickly recolonize areas where the drive has locally eliminated the population. Despite the drive subsequently chasing the wild-type allele into these newly re-colonized areas, complete population suppression often fails or is substantially delayed. This delay increases the likelihood that the drive becomes lost or that resistance evolves. We systematically analyze how chasing dynamics are influenced by the type of drive, its efficiency, fitness costs, as well as ecological and demographic factors such as the maximal growth rate of the population, the migration rate, and the level of inbreeding. We find that chasing is generally more common for lower efficiency drives and in populations with low dispersal. However, we further find that some drive mechanisms are substantially more prone to chasing behavior than others. Our results demonstrate that the population dynamics of suppression gene drives are determined by a complex interplay of genetic and ecological factors, highlighting the need for realistic spatial modeling to predict the outcome of drive releases in natural populations.


eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalise B Paaby ◽  
Amelia G White ◽  
David D Riccardi ◽  
Kristin C Gunsalus ◽  
Fabio Piano ◽  
...  

Embryogenesis is an essential and stereotypic process that nevertheless evolves among species. Its essentiality may favor the accumulation of cryptic genetic variation (CGV) that has no effect in the wild-type but that enhances or suppresses the effects of rare disruptions to gene function. Here, we adapted a classical modifier screen to interrogate the alleles segregating in natural populations of Caenorhabditis elegans: we induced gene knockdowns and used quantitative genetic methodology to examine how segregating variants modify the penetrance of embryonic lethality. Each perturbation revealed CGV, indicating that wild-type genomes harbor myriad genetic modifiers that may have little effect individually but which in aggregate can dramatically influence penetrance. Phenotypes were mediated by many modifiers, indicating high polygenicity, but the alleles tend to act very specifically, indicating low pleiotropy. Our findings demonstrate the extent of conditional functionality in complex trait architecture.


Author(s):  
Thecan Caesar-Ton That ◽  
Lynn Epstein

Nectria haematococca mating population I (anamorph, Fusarium solani) macroconidia attach to its host (squash) and non-host surfaces prior to germ tube emergence. The macroconidia become adhesive after a brief period of protein synthesis. Recently, Hickman et al. (1989) isolated N. haematococca adhesion-reduced mutants. Using freeze substitution, we compared the development of the macroconidial wall in the wild type in comparison to one of the mutants, LEI.Macroconidia were harvested at 1C, washed by centrifugation, resuspended in a dilute zucchini fruit extract and incubated from 0 - 5 h. During the incubation period, wild type macroconidia attached to uncoated dialysis tubing. Mutant macroconidia did not attach and were collected on poly-L-lysine coated dialysis tubing just prior to freezing. Conidia on the tubing were frozen in liquid propane at 191 - 193C, substituted in acetone with 2% OsO4 and 0.05% uranyl acetate, washed with acetone, and flat-embedded in Epon-Araldite. Using phase contrast microscopy at 1000X, cells without freeze damage were selected, remounted, sectioned and post-stained sequentially with 1% Ba(MnO4)2 2% uranyl acetate and Reynold’s lead citrate. At least 30 cells/treatment were examined.


2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 897-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Pohl ◽  
Jac A. Nickoloff

ABSTRACT Homologous recombination (HR) is critical for DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair and genome stabilization. In yeast, HR is catalyzed by the Rad51 strand transferase and its “mediators,” including the Rad52 single-strand DNA-annealing protein, two Rad51 paralogs (Rad55 and Rad57), and Rad54. A Rad51 homolog, Dmc1, is important for meiotic HR. In wild-type cells, most DSB repair results in gene conversion, a conservative HR outcome. Because Rad51 plays a central role in the homology search and strand invasion steps, DSBs either are not repaired or are repaired by nonconservative single-strand annealing or break-induced replication mechanisms in rad51Δ mutants. Although DSB repair by gene conversion in the absence of Rad51 has been reported for ectopic HR events (e.g., inverted repeats or between plasmids), Rad51 has been thought to be essential for DSB repair by conservative interchromosomal (allelic) gene conversion. Here, we demonstrate that DSBs stimulate gene conversion between homologous chromosomes (allelic conversion) by >30-fold in a rad51Δ mutant. We show that Rad51-independent allelic conversion and break-induced replication occur independently of Rad55, Rad57, and Dmc1 but require Rad52. Unlike DSB-induced events, spontaneous allelic conversion was detected in both rad51Δ and rad52Δ mutants, but not in a rad51Δ rad52Δ double mutant. The frequencies of crossovers associated with DSB-induced gene conversion were similar in the wild type and the rad51Δ mutant, but discontinuous conversion tracts were fivefold more frequent and tract lengths were more widely distributed in the rad51Δ mutant, indicating that heteroduplex DNA has an altered structure, or is processed differently, in the absence of Rad51.


Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasumasa Tsukamoto ◽  
Jun-ichi Kato ◽  
Hideo Ikeda

Abstract To examine the mechanism of illegitimate recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have developed a plasmid system for quantitative analysis of deletion formation. A can1 cyh2 cell carrying two negative selection markers, the CAN1 and CYH2 genes, on a YCp plasmid is sensitive to canavanine and cycloheximide, but the cell becomes resistant to both drugs when the plasmid has a deletion over the CAN1 and CYH2 genes. Structural analysis of the recombinant plasmids obtained from the resistant cells showed that the plasmids had deletions at various sites of the CAN1-CYH2 region and there were only short regions of homology (1-5 bp) at the recombination junctions. The results indicated that the deletion detected in this system were formed by illegitimate recombination. Study on the effect of several rad mutations showed that the recombination rate was reduced by 30-, 10-, 10-, and 10-fold in the rad52, rad50, mre11, and xrs2 mutants, respectively, while in the rud51, 54, 55, and 57 mutants, the rate was comparable to that in the wild-type strain. The rad52 mutation did not affect length of homology at junction sites of illegitimate recombination.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 618
Author(s):  
Yue Jin ◽  
Shihao Li ◽  
Yang Yu ◽  
Chengsong Zhang ◽  
Xiaojun Zhang ◽  
...  

A mutant of the ridgetail white prawn, which exhibited rare orange-red body color with a higher level of free astaxanthin (ASTX) concentration than that in the wild-type prawn, was obtained in our lab. In order to understand the underlying mechanism for the existence of a high level of free astaxanthin, transcriptome analysis was performed to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the mutant and wild-type prawns. A total of 78,224 unigenes were obtained, and 1863 were identified as DEGs, in which 902 unigenes showed higher expression levels, while 961 unigenes presented lower expression levels in the mutant in comparison with the wild-type prawns. Based on Gene Ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis, as well as further investigation of annotated DEGs, we found that the biological processes related to astaxanthin binding, transport, and metabolism presented significant differences between the mutant and the wild-type prawns. Some genes related to these processes, including crustacyanin, apolipoprotein D (ApoD), cathepsin, and cuticle proteins, were identified as DEGs between the two types of prawns. These data may provide important information for us to understand the molecular mechanism of the existence of a high level of free astaxanthin in the prawn.


Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 149 (2) ◽  
pp. 565-577
Author(s):  
Daniel B Szymanski ◽  
Daniel A Klis ◽  
John C Larkin ◽  
M David Marks

Abstract In Arabidopsis, the timing and spatial arrangement of trichome initiation is tightly regulated and requires the activity of the GLABROUS1 (GL1) gene. The COTYLEDON TRICHOME 1 (COT1) gene affects trichome initiation during late stages of leaf development and is described in this article. In the wild-type background, cot1 has no observable effect on trichome initiation. GL1 overexpression in wild-type plants leads to a modest number of ectopic trichomes and to a decrease in trichome number on the adaxial leaf surface. The cot1 mutation enhances GL1-overexpression-dependent ectopic trichome formation and also induces increased leaf trichome initiation. The expressivity of the cot1 phenotype is sensitive to cot1 and 35S::GL1 gene dosage, and the most severe phenotypes are observed when cot1 and 35S::GL1 are homozygous. The COT1 locus is located on chromosome 2 15.3 cM north of er. Analysis of the interaction between cot1, try, and 35S::GL1 suggests that COT1 is part of a complex signal transduction pathway that regulates GL1-dependent adoption of the trichome cell fate.


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