Sex-chromosome meiotic drive systems in Drosophila melanogaster .1: Abnormal spermatid development in males with a heterochromatin-deficient X-chromosome (sc4sc8)

The meiotic drive characteristics of the In(1)sc4Lsc8R/Y system have been examined by genetic analysis and by light and electron microscopy. sc4sc8/Y males show a direct correlation between nondisjunction frequency and meiotic drive. Temperature-shift experiments reveal that the temperature-sensitive period for nondisjunction is at meiosis, whereas that for meiotic drive has both meiotic and post-meiotic components. Cytological analyses in the light and electron microscopes reveal failures in spermiogenesis in the testes of sc4sc8 males. The extent of abnormal spermatid development increases as nondisjunction becomes more extreme.