Tthe genetic control of meiotic drive acting on the B-chromosome of Myrmeleotettix maculatus (Orthoptera, Aacrididae)

Tags: Chromosomal drive, Evolution, Gene drive mechanisms, Transmission distortion
Shaw, MWH, G. M., Heredity, 54:187-194. 1985.

Crosses between populations with and without B-chromosomes were made, and backcrossed to the non B parent for two generations. No polygenic differences in male or female meiotic transmission were found, but a modifier of meiotic drive segregated in the experiment, drastically reducing female transmission rate. We tentatively interpret this as evidence of a coevolutionary race between the B-chromosome and the A genome.