Meiotic drive in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster .6: A preliminary report on presence of segregation-distortion in a Baja california population

Meiotic drive in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster .6: A preliminary report on presence of segregation-distortion in a Baja california population

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Mange, EJ,  American Naturalist,  95:87-96. 1961.

Meiotic drive is a term coined by Sandler and Novitski (1957) to describe; the situation whereby a heterozygote produces gametes containing an excess; of one allele, rather than the expected equality. As a consequence of such; aberrant segregations, gene frequencies within a population may be radically; altered; indeed, detrimental or lethal genes closely linked to the driven gene; may increase in frequency, thereby leading to a reduction in fitness or pos; sibly even to extinction of the population.; An instance of meiotic drive in Drosophila melanogaster, discovered by; Hiraizumi in a Madison, Wisconsin, population, has been reported by Sandler,; Hiraizumi and Sandler (1959). The phenomenon, termed segregation-distortion,; was found to depend upon a locus designated SD, which is located in the; centromeric heterochromatin of chromosome II. The phenomenon is ex; pressed in males only.; Since segregation-distortion was originally found in a natural population,; the question arose as to whether the phenomenon is of recent origin and; therefore localized in the vicinity of Madison, or well established and hence; widespread among natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. There; fore, the screening of wild populations for SD (or for any other type of aber; rant segregation) was undertaken. In small samples from only thirteen popu; lations, SD has been detected in one Baja California population as well as; in three other rather widely separated Madison populations. This report will; be confined to establishing that the locus discovered in the southern Cape; region of Baja California (specifically, from Rancho La Burrera near the; west base of Sierra de La Laguna, and a Pleistocene lake relic, called; La Laguna, in the same range) is indeed SD.