Meiotic drive in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster 9: Suppressors of segregation distorter in wild populations

Tags: Evolution, Gene drive mechanisms, Other arthropods, Transmission distortion
Hartl, DL, Canadian Journal of Genetics and Cytology, 12:594-600. 1970.

A population of Drosophila melanogaster in Madison, Wisconsin, has been screened for suppressors of segregation distorter (SD), an autosomal meiotic drive element found in the same population. Three kinds of suppressors were tested for: (1) Y-linked suppressors, none were found, (2) X-linked suppressors, whose frequency was found to be 85%, and (3) autosomal dominant suppressors, which occur in 45% of autosome complements.The frequency of X-linked suppressors is comparable to that found in a Japanese population; autosomal suppressors are much more frequent in Madison than in Japan (Katoaka, 1967). The similarity in the frequency of sex-linked suppressors may result from the meiotic drive shown by the suppressor-X itself; the difference in the frequency of autosomal dominant suppressors is possibly related to a higher frequency of SD itself in the Madison population.