Keywords: Evolution

Anticipating evolutionary responses of mosquito mating systems to population suppression with mass-reared males

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Bonsall, M.B., Cator, L.J.,  Current Opinion in Insect Science,  68. 2025.
Strategies that rely on the mass release of males to suppress mosquito populations will exert selective pressure on natural mating systems. Here, we investigate how mass releases might affect the mating behaviors of wild target populations. We highlight gaps in our understanding ...

Non-Mendelian transmission of X chromosomes: mechanisms and impact on sex ratios and population dynamics in different breeding systems

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Sally Adams; Andre Pires-daSilva,  Biochemical Society Transactions,  2024.
The non-Mendelian transmission of sex chromosomes during gametogenesis carries significant implications, influencing sex ratios and shaping evolutionary dynamics. Here we focus on known mechanisms that drive non-Mendelian inheritance of X chromosomes during spermatogenesis and ...

Teosinte Pollen Drive guides maize diversification and domestication by RNAi

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Berube, B., Ernst, E., Cahn, J. et al.,  Nature,  633:380-388. 2024.
Selfish genetic elements contribute to hybrid incompatibility and bias or ‘drive’ their own transmission1,2. Chromosomal drive typically functions in asymmetric female meiosis, whereas gene drive is normally post-meiotic and typically found in males. Here, using ...

Rapid turnover of pathogen-blocking Wolbachia and their incompatibility loci

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Shropshire JD, Conner WR, Vanderpool D, Hoffmann AA, Turelli M, Cooper BS.,  bioRxiv,  2023.
At least half of all insect species carry maternally inherited Wolbachia alphaproteobacteria, making Wolbachia the most common endosymbionts in nature. Wolbachia spread to high frequencies is often due to cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), a Wolbachia -induced sperm modification ...

Upper Bound on the Mutational Burden Imposed by a CRISPR-Cas9 Gene-Drive Element

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Michael S. Overton, Sean E. Guy, Xingsen Chen, Alena Martsul, Krypton Carolino, Omar S. Akbari, Justin R. Meyer, Sergey Kryazhimskiy,  bioRxiv,  2023.
CRISPR-Cas9 gene drives (CCGDs) are powerful tools for genetic control of wild populations, useful for eradication of disease vectors, conservation of endangered species and other applications. However, Cas9 alone and in a complex with gRNA can cause double-stranded DNA breaks at ...

Genetic conflict and the origin of multigene families: implications for sex chromosome evolution

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E. Martí and A. M. Larracuente,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  290:20231823. 2023.
Sex chromosomes are havens for intragenomic conflicts. The absence of recombination between sex chromosomes creates the opportunity for the evolution of segregation distorters: selfish genetic elements that hijack different aspects of an individual's reproduction to increase ...

Female meiotic drive shapes the distribution of rare inversion polymorphisms in Drosophila melanogaster

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S. A. Koury,  Genetics,  2023.
In all species, new chromosomal inversions are constantly being formed by spontaneous rearrangement and then stochastically eliminated from natural populations. In Drosophila, when new chromosomal inversions overlap with a pre-existing inversion in the population, their rate of ...

Wolbachia has subtle effects on thermal preference in highly inbred Drosophila melanogaster which vary with life stage and environmental conditions

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A. Strunov, C. Schoenherr and M. Kapun,  Scientific Reports,  13:13792. 2023.
Temperature fluctuations are challenging for ectotherms which are not able to regulate body temperature by physiological means and thus have to adjust their thermal environment via behavior. However, little is yet known about whether microbial symbionts influence thermal ...

Fighting the battle against evolution: designing genetically modified organisms for evolutionary stability

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M. Arbel-Groissman, I. Menuhin-Gruman, D. Naki, S. Bergman and T. Tuller,  Trends in Biotechnology,  2023.
Synthetic biology has made significant progress in many areas, but a major challenge that has received limited attention is the evolutionary stability of synthetic constructs made of heterologous genes. The expression of these constructs in microorganisms, that is, production of ...

Steering and controlling evolution — from bioengineering to fighting pathogens

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M. Lässig, V. Mustonen and A. Nourmohammad,  Nature Reviews Genetics,  2023.
Control interventions steer the evolution of molecules, viruses, microorganisms or other cells towards a desired outcome. Applications range from engineering biomolecules and synthetic organisms to drug, therapy and vaccine design against pathogens and cancer. In all these ...

What should we call evolution driven by genetic engineering? Genetic welding, says researcher

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Cell Press,  Phys Org,  2023.
With CRISPR-Cas9 technology, humans can now rapidly change the evolutionary course of animals or plants by inserting genes that can easily spread through entire populations. Evolutionary geneticist Asher Cutter proposes that we call this evolutionary meddling “genetic ...

Synthetic gene drives as an anthropogenic evolutionary force

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A. D. Cutter,  Trends in Genetics,  2023.
Genetic drive represents a fundamental evolutionary force that can exact profound change to the genetic composition of populations by biasing allele transmission. Herein I propose that the use of synthetic homing gene drives, the human-mediated analog of endogenous genetic ...

Discovery of 119-Million-Year-Old “Selfish” Genes Casts Doubt on Established Evolution Beliefs

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Stowers Institute for Medical Research,  SciTechDaily,  2022.
Meiotic drivers, a kind of selfish gene, are indeed selfish. They are found in virtually all species’ genomes, including humans, and unjustly transfer their genetic material to more than half of their offspring, resulting in infertility and impaired organism health. Their ...

Discovery of 119-Million year old Selfish Genes Casts Doubt on Established Evolution Beliefs

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Stowers Institute for Medical Research,  2022.
Meiotic drivers, a kind of selfish gene, are indeed selfish. They are found in virtually all species’ genomes, including humans, and unjustly transfer their genetic material to more than half of their offspring, resulting in infertility and impaired organism health. Their ...

The wtf meiotic driver gene family has unexpectedly persisted for over 100 million years

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M. De Carvalho, G. S. Jia, A. Nidamangala Srinivasa, R. B. Billmyre, Y. H. Xu, J. J. Lange, I. M. Sabbarini, L. L. Du and S. E. Zanders,  eLife,  11. 2022.
Meiotic drivers are selfish elements that bias their own transmission into more than half of the viable progeny produced by a driver+/driver- heterozygote. Meiotic drivers are thought to exist for relatively short evolutionary timespans because a driver gene or gene family is ...

Unbalanced selection: the challenge of maintaining a social polymorphism when a supergene is selfish

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A. G. Tafreshi, S. P. Otto and M. Chapuisat,  Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci,  377:20210197. 2022.
Supergenes often have multiple phenotypic effects, including unexpected detrimental ones, because recombination suppression maintains associations among co-adapted alleles but also allows the accumulation of recessive deleterious mutations and selfish genetic elements. Yet, ...

Mendel’s First Law: partisan interests and the parliament of genes

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C. Veller,  Heredity,  2022.
Mendel’s First Law requires explanation because of the possibility of ‘meiotic drivers’, genes that distort fair segregation for selfish gain. The suppression of drive, and the restoration of fair segregation, is often attributed to genes at loci unlinked to the drive ...

Epistatic selection on a selfish Segregation Distorter supergene: drive, recombination, and genetic load

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B. Navarro-Dominguez, C.-H. Chang, C. L. Brand, C. A. Muirhead, D. C. Presgraves and A. M. Larracuente,  eLife,  11:e78981. 2022.
In this work, we investigate the evolution and genomic consequences of an autosomal, multilocus, male meiotic drive system, Segregation Distorter (SD) in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. In African populations, the predominant SD chromosome variant, SD-Mal, is ...

The evolutionary significance of meiotic drive

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J. B. Searle and F. P.-M. de Villena,  Heredity,  2022.
In this essay, we will focus on‘true meiotic drive’ where the distorted transmission does arise within meiosis itself (Zanders and Unckless2019),specifically in females. Here, the non-transmission of one of the products of meiotic division is inherent in the gametogenic ...

Rescue by gene swamping as a gene drive deployment strategy

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K. D. Harris and G. Greenbaum,  bioRxiv,  2022.03.08.483503. 2022.
Gene drives are genetic constructs that can spread deleterious alleles with potential application to population suppression of harmful species. Given that a gene drive can potentially spill over to other populations or even other species, control measures and fail-safes ...

Cytoplasmic incompatibility in hybrid zones: infection dynamics and resistance evolution

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E. S. Røed and J. Engelstädter,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  2021.
Cytoplasmic incompatibility is an endosymbiont-induced mating incompatibility common in arthropods. Unidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility impairs crosses between infected males and uninfected females, whereas bidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility occurs when two host ...

Rapid evolutionary dynamics of an expanding family of meiotic drive factors and their hpRNA suppressors

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J. Vedanayagam, C. J. Lin and E. C. Lai,  Nature Ecology and Evolution,  2021.
Meiotic drivers are a class of selfish genetic elements whose existence is frequently hidden due to concomitant suppressor systems. Accordingly, we know little of their evolutionary breadth and molecular mechanisms. Here, we trace the evolution of the Dox meiotic drive system in ...

Evolutionary robustness of killer meiotic drives

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P. G. Madgwick and J. B. Wolf,  Evolution Letters,  2021.
A meiotic driver is a selfish genetic element that interferes with the process of meiosis to promote its own transmission. The most common mechanism of interference is gamete killing, where the meiotic driver kills gametes that do not contain it. A killer meiotic driver is ...

Invasion and maintenance of meiotic drivers in populations of ascomycete fungi

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I. Martinossi-Allibert, C. Veller, S. L. Ament-Velasquez, A. A. Vogan, C. Rueffler and H. Johannesson,  Evolution,  20. 2021.
Meiotic drivers (MDs) are selfish genetic elements that are able to become overrepresented among the products of meiosis. This transmission advantage makes it possible for them to spread in a population even when they impose fitness costs on their host organisms. Whether an MD ...

Genetic pest management and the background genetics of release strains

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P. T. Leftwich, L. G. Spurgin, T. Harvey-Samuel, C. J. E. Thomas, L. C. Paladino, M. P. Edgington and L. Alphey,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  376:20190805. 2020.
We discuss issues around strain selection and the potential consequences of such introgression. We conclude that such introgression is probably harmless in almost all circumstances, and could, in theory, provide specific additional benefits to the release programme. We outline ...

Wolbachia strain wAlbB maintains high density and dengue inhibition following introduction into a field population of Aedes aegypti

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N. A. Ahmad, M.-V. Mancini, T. H. Ant, J. Martinez, G. M. R. Kamarul, W. A. Nazni, A. A. Hoffmann and S. P. Sinkins,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  376:20190809. 2020.
Here, wAlbB-carrying Ae. aegypti collected from the field 20 months after the cessation of releases showed no reduction in Wolbachia density or tissue distribution changes compared to a wAlbB laboratory colony. The wAlbB strain continued to induce complete unidirectional ...

Gene Drive Dynamics in Natural Populations: The Importance of Density Dependence, Space, and Sex

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S. Dhole, A. L. Lloyd and F. Gould,  Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics,  51:505-531. 2020.
The spread of synthetic gene drives is often discussed in the context of panmictic populations connected by gene flow and described with simple deterministic models. Under such assumptions, an entire species could be altered by releasing a single individual carrying an invasive ...

The Y Chromosome as a Battleground for Intragenomic Conflict

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D. Bachtrog,  Trends in Genetics,  2020.
Recurrent sex chromosome drive can have profound ecological, evolutionary, and cellular impacts and account for unique features of sex chromosomes.

Recessive Z-linked lethals and the retention of haplotype diversity in a captive butterfly population

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I. J. Saccheri, S. Whiteford, C. J. Yung and A. E. van't Hof,  Heredity,  2020.
Sex chromosomes are predicted to harbour elevated levels of sexually antagonistic variation due to asymmetries in the heritability of recessive traits in the homogametic versus heterogametic sex.

Modeling the impacts of a simple meiotic gene drive on small, homeostatic populations

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K. R. Pilkiewicz and M. L. Mayo,  Physical Review E,  101:11. 2020.
Gene drives offer unprecedented control over the fate of natural ecosystems by leveraging non-Mendelian inheritance mechanisms to proliferate synthetic genes across wild populations. However, these benefits are offset by a need to avoid the potentially disastrous consequences of ...

Vector genetics, insecticide resistance and gene drives: an agent-based modeling approach to evaluate malaria transmission and elimination

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P. Selvaraj, E. A. Wenger, D. Bridenbecker, N. Windbichler, J. R. Russell, J. Gerardin, C. A. Bever and M. Nikolov,  bioRxiv,  2020.01.27.920421. 2020.
Vector control has been a key component in the fight against malaria for decades, and chemical insecticides are critical to the success of vector control programs worldwide. However, increasing resistance to insecticides threatens to undermine these efforts. Understanding the ...

Davos 2020 World Economic Forum | When Humankind Overrides Evolution

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M. Skipper,  World Economic Forum,  Davos 2020. 2020.
Advances in synthetic biology and other novel genetic procedures could resurrect extinct species or eliminate dangerous pests. What actions are needed now to ensure the ethical and responsible application of new genetic techniques?

Fitness consequences of a non-recombining sex-ratio drive chromosome can explain its prevalence in the wild

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Dyer, K. A. and D. W. Hall,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  286:20192529. 2019.
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 ...

Gene drive: progress and prospects

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Wedell, N., T. A. R. Price and A. K. Lindholm,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  286:20192709. 2019.
Gene drive is a naturally occurring phenomenon in which selfish genetic elements manipulate gametogenesis and reproduction to increase their own transmission to the next generation. Currently, there is great excitement about the potential of harnessing such systems to control ...

Ancient gene drives: an evolutionary paradox

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Price, T. A. R., R. Verspoor and N. Wedell,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  286:20192267. 2019.
Selfish genetic elements such as selfish chromosomes increase their transmission rate relative to the rest of the genome and can generate substantial cost to the organisms that carry them. Such segregation distorters are predicted to either reach fixation (potentially causing ...

A selfish genetic element linked to increased lifespan impacts metabolism in female house mice

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Lopes, P. C. and A. K. Lindholm,  The Journal of Experimental Biology,  2019:212704. 2019.
Gene drive systems can lead to the evolution of traits that further enhance the transmission of the driving element. In gene drive, one allele is transmitted to offspring at a higher frequency than the homologous allele. This has a range of consequences, which generally include a ...

Genetically engineering wild mice to combat Lyme disease: An ecological perspective

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Snow, A. A.,  BioScience,  69:746-756. 2019.
Genetic engineering of wild populations has been proposed for reducing human diseases by altering pathogens’ hosts. For example, CRISPR- based genome editing may be used to create white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) that are resistant to the Lyme disease ...

Maintenance of fertility in the face of meiotic drive

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Meade, L., S. Finnegan, R. Kad, K. Fowler and A. Pomiankowsk,  The American Naturalist,  2019:2019. 2019.
Selfish genetic elements that gain a transmission advantage through the destruction of sperm have grave implications for drive male fertility. In the X-linked SR meiotic drive system of a stalk-eyed fly, we found that drive males have greatly enlarged testes and maintain high ...

An assessment of the immune costs associated with meiotic drive elements in Drosophila

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Lea, J. K. and R. L. Unckless,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  286:20191534. 2019.
Most organisms are constantly adapting to pathogens and parasites that exploit their host for their own benefit. Less studied, but perhaps more ubiquitous, are intragenomic parasites or selfish genetic elements. These include transposable elements, selfish B chromosomes and ...

Winning the tug-of-war between effector gene design and pathogen evolution in vector population replacement strategies

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Marshall, J. M., R. R. Raban, N. P. Kandul, J. R. Edula, T. M. León and O. S. Akbari,  Frontiers in Genetics,  10:1072. 2019.
While efforts to control malaria with available tools have stagnated, and arbovirus outbreaks persist around the globe, the advent of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-based gene editing has provided exciting new opportunities for genetics-based ...

An X-linked meiotic drive allele has strong, recessive fitness costs in female Drosophila pseudoobscura

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W. Larner, T. Price, L. Holman and N. Wedell,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  286:9. 2019.
Selfish 'meiotic drive' alleles are transmitted to more than 50% of offspring, allowing them to rapidly invade populations even if they reduce the fitness of individuals carrying them. Theory predicts that drivers should either fix or go extinct, yet some drivers defy these ...

Effects of a male meiotic driver on male and female transcriptomes in the house mouse

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A. Lindholm, A. Sutter, S. Kunzel, D. Tautz and H. Rehrauer,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  286:1-8. 2019.
Not all genetic loci follow Mendel's rules, and the evolutionary consequences of this are not yet fully known. Genomic conflict involving multiple loci is a likely outcome, as restoration of Mendelian inheritance patterns will be selected for, and sexual conflict may also arise ...

The impact of local population genetic background on the spread of the selfish element Medea-1 in red flour beetles

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S. A. Cash, M. A. Robert, M. D. Lorenzen and F. Gould,  Ecology and Evolution,  12:1-12. 2019.
Selfish genetic elements have been found in the genomes of many species, yet our understanding of their evolutionary dynamics is only partially understood. A number of distinct selfish Medea elements are naturally present in many populations of the red flour beetle (Tribolium ...

The distribution and spread of naturally occurring Medea selfish genetic elements in the United States

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S. A. Cash, M. D. Lorenzen and F. Gould,  Ecology and Evolution,  9:14407–14416.. 2019.
Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) are DNA sequences that are transmitted to viable offspring in greater than Mendelian frequencies. Medea SGEs occur naturally in some populations of red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) and are expected to increase in frequency within populations ...

Does meiotic drive alter male mate preference?

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S. R. Finnegan, L. Nitsche, M. Mondani, M. F. Camus, K. Fowler and A. Pomiankowski,  Behavioral Ecology,  13:194-201. 2019.
Male mate preferences have been demonstrated across a range of species, including the Malaysian stalk-eyed fly, Teleopsis dalmanni. This species is subject to sex-ratio (SR), an X-linked male meiotic driver, which causes the dysfunction of Y-sperm and the production of all-female ...

Fitness consequences of the selfish supergene Segregation Distorter

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H. W. S. Wong and L. Holman,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  33:89-100. 2019.
Segregation distorters are selfish genetic elements that subvert Mendelian inheritance, often by destroying gametes that do not carry the distorter. Simple theoretical models predict that distorter alleles will either spread to fixation or stabilize at some high intermediate ...

A 2017 horizon scan of emerging issues for global conservation and biological diversity

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Sutherland, WJB, P.; Broad, S.; Clout, M.; Connor, B.; Cote, I. M.; Dicks, L. V.; Doran, H.; Entwistle, A. C.; Fleishman, E.; Fox, M.; Gaston, K. J.; Gibbons, D. W.; Jiang, Z.; Keim, B.; Lickorish, F. A.; Markillie, P.; Monk, K. A.; Pearce-Higgins, J. W.; Peck, L. S.; Pretty, J.; Spalding, M. D.; Tonneijck, F. H.; Wintle, B. C.; Ockendon, N.,  Trends in Ecology & Evolution,  32:31-40. 2019.
We present the results of our eighth annual horizon scan of emerging issues likely to affect global biological diversity, the environment, and conservation efforts in the future. The potential effects of these novel issues might not yet be fully recognized or understood by the ...

A natural gene drive system influences bovine tuberculosis susceptibility in African buffalo: Possible implications for disease management

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P. van Hooft, W. M. Getz, B. J. Greyling and A. D. S. Bastos,  PLoS One,  14:e0221168. 2019.
Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is endemic to the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) of Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) and Kruger National Park, South Africa. In HiP, the disease has been actively managed since 1999 through a test-and-cull procedure targeting BTB-positive buffalo. Prior ...

Sex-ratio meiotic drive shapes the evolution of the Y chromosome in Drosophila simulans

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Q. Helleu, C. Courret, D. Ogereau, K. L. Burnham, N. Chaminade, M. Chakir, S. Aulard and C. Montchamp-Moreau,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  36:2668-2681. 2019.
The recent emergence and spread of X-linked segregation distorters-called "Paris" system-in the worldwide species Drosophila simulans has elicited the selection of drive-resistant Y chromosomes. Here, we investigate the evolutionary history of 386 Y chromosomes originating from ...

The association between mitochondrial genetic variation and reduced colony fitness in an invasive wasp

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J. Dobelmann, A. Alexander, J. W. Baty, N. J. Gemmell, M. A. M. Gruber, O. Quinn, T. Wenseleers and P. J. Lester,  Molecular Ecology,  28:3324-3338. 2019.
Despite the mitochondrion's long-recognized role in energy production, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation commonly found in natural populations was assumed to be effectively neutral. However, variation in mtDNA has now been increasingly linked to phenotypic variation in life ...

A century of bias in genetics and evolution

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L. D. Hurst,  Heredity,  123:33-44. 2019.
Mendel proposed that the heritable material is particulate and that transmission of alleles is unbiased. An assumption of unbiased transmission was necessary to show how variation can be preserved in the absence of selection, so overturning an early objection to Darwinism. In the ...

Gene-drive-mediated extinction is thwarted by population structure and evolution of sib mating

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J. J. Bull, C. H. Remien and S. M. Krone,  Evolution Medicine and Public Health,  2019:66-81. 2019.
Genetic engineering combined with CRISPR technology has developed to the point that gene drives can, in theory, be engineered to cause extinction in countless species. Success of extinction programs now rests on the possibility of resistance evolution, which is largely unknown. ...

Meiotic drive shapes rates of karyotype evolution in mammals

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Blackmon, H., J. Justison, I. Mayrose and E. E. Goldberg,  Evolution,  73:511-523. 2019.
Chromosome number is perhaps the most basic characteristic of a genome, yet generalizations that can explain the evolution of this trait across large clades have remained elusive. Using karyotype data from over 1000 mammals, we developed and applied a phylogenetic model of ...

Transmission ratio distortion is frequent in Arabidopsis thaliana controlled crosses

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Seymour, DKC, E.; Arioz, B. I.; Koenig, D.; Weigel, D.,  Heredity,  122:294-304. 2019.
The equal probability of transmission of alleles from either parent during sexual reproduction is a central tenet of genetics and evolutionary biology. Yet, there are many cases where this rule is violated. The preferential transmission of alleles or genotypes is termed ...

CRISPR gene drive efficiency and resistance rate is highly heritable with no common genetic loci of large effect

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Champer, JW, Z. X.; Luthra, A.; Reeves, R.; Chung, J.; Liu, C.; Lee, Y. L.; Liu, J. X.; Yang, E.; Messer, P. W.; Clark, A. G.,  Genetics,  212:333-341. 2019.
Gene drives could allow for control of vector-borne diseases by directly suppressing vector populations or spreading genetic payloads designed to reduce pathogen transmission. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) homing gene drives work by cleaving ...

Variability in the durability of CRISPR-Cas immunity

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Chabas, HN, A.; Meaden, S.; Westra, E. R.; Tremblay, D. M.; Pradier, L.; Lion, S.; Moineau, S.; Gandon, S.,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  374:1-9. 2019.
The durability of host resistance is challenged by the ability of pathogens to escape the defence of their hosts. Understanding the variability in the durability of host resistance is of paramount importance for designing more effective control strategies against infectious ...

Predicting the spatial dynamics of Wolbachia infections in Aedes aegypti arbovirus vector populations in heterogeneous landscapes

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Hancock, PAR, S. A.; Koenraadt, C. J. M.; Scott, T. W.; Hoffmann, A. A.; Godfray, H. C. J.,  Journal of Applied Ecology,  56:1674-1686. 2019.
A promising strategy for reducing the transmission of dengue and other arboviral human diseases by Aedes aegypti mosquito vector populations involves field introductions of the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia. Wolbachia infections inhibit viral transmission by the mosquito, and ...

Spatial structure undermines parasite suppression by gene drive cargo

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Bull, JJR, Christopher H.; Gomulkiewicz, Richard; Krone, Stephen M.,  PeerJ,  7:e7921. 2019.
Gene drives may be used in two ways to curtail vectored diseases. Both involve engineering the drive to spread in the vector population. One approach uses the drive to directly depress vector numbers, possibly to extinction. The other approach leaves intact the vector population ...

Making a murderer: The evolutionary framing of hybrid gamete-killers

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Sweigart, ALB, Yaniv; Fishman, Lila,  Trends in Genetics,  35:245-252. 2019.
Recent molecular investigations of hybrid incompatibilities have revealed fascinating patterns of genetic interactions that have been interpreted as the remnants of a history of selfish evolution. Instead of framing hybrid incompatibilities in light of genetic conflict, we ...

Controlling invasive rodents via synthetic gene drive and the role of polyandry

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Manser, AC, S. J.; Sutter, A.; Blondel, D. V.; Serr, M.; Godwin, J.; Price, T. A. R.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  286:9. 2019.
House mice are a major ecosystem pest, particularly threatening island ecosystems as a non-native invasive species. Rapid advances in synthetic biology offer new avenues to control pest species for biodiversity conservation. Recently, a synthetic sperm-killing gene drive ...

Gene conversion generates evolutionary novelty that fuels genetic conflicts

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Daugherty, MDZ, Sarah E.,  Current Opinion in Genetics & Development,  58-59:49-54. 2019.
Genetic conflicts arise when the evolutionary interests of two genetic elements are not aligned. Conflicts between genomes (e.g. pathogen versus host) or within the same genome (e.g. internal parasitic DNA sequences versus the rest of the host genome) can both foster ‘molecular ...

Evaluating the Probability of CRISPR-based Gene Drive Contaminating Another Species

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Courtier-Orgogozo, VD, Antoine; Gouyon, Pierre-Henri; Boëte, Christophe,  bioRxiv,  776609:27. 2019.
The probability D that a given CRISPR-based gene drive element contaminates another, non-target species can be estimated by the following Drive Risk Assessment Quantitative Estimate (DRAQUE) Equation: D = (hyb+transf).express.cut.flank.immune.nonextinct withhyb = probability of ...

Pest demography critically determines the viability of synthetic gene drives for population control

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K. E. Wilkins, T. A. A. Prowse, P. Cassey, P. Q. Thomas and J. V. Ross,  Mathematical Biosciences,  305:160-169. 2018.
Synthetic gene drives offer a novel solution for the control of invasive alien species. CRISPR-based gene drives can positively bias their own inheritance, and comprise a DNA sequence that is replicated by homologous recombination. Since gene drives can be positioned to silence ...

Synthetically engineered Medea gene drive system in the worldwide crop pest Drosophila suzukii

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Buchman, AM, John M.; Ostrovski, Dennis; Yang, Ting; Akbari, Omar S.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  115:4725-4730. 2018.
Here we describe a fully functional gene drive system constructed in a major worldwide crop pest, Drosophila suzukii. This system is composed of a synthetic Medea drive with a maternal miRNA “toxin” and a zygotic “antidote,” and we demonstrate that it can bias inheritance ...

Rapid comeback of males: evolution of male-killer suppression in a green lacewing population

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Hayashi, MN, M.; Kageyama, D.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  285:6. 2018.
Evolutionary theory predicts that the spread of cytoplasmic sex ratio distorters leads to the evolution of host nuclear suppressors, although there are extremely few empirical observations of this phenomenon. Here, we demonstrate that a nuclear suppressor of a cytoplasmic male ...

Improved CRISPR-based suppression gene drives mitigate resistance and impose a large reproductive load on laboratory-contained mosquito populations

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Hammond, AMK, Kyros; Gribble, Matthew; Karlsson, Xenia; Morianou, Ioanna; Galizi, Roberto; Beaghton, Andrea; Crisanti, Andrea; Nolan, Tony,  bioRxiv,  360339:1-16. 2018.
CRISPR-based genes drives bias their own inheritance and can be used to modify entire populations of insect vectors of disease as a novel form of sustainable disease control. Gene drives designed to interfere with female fertility can suppress populations of the mosquito vector ...

Genetics and genomics of an unusual selfish sex ratio distortion in an insect

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Hamilton, PTH, C. N.; Curtis, C. I.; Perlman, S. J.,  Current Biology,  28:3864-3870. 2018.
Diverse selfish genetic elements have evolved the ability to manipulate reproduction to increase their transmission, and this can result in highly distorted sex ratios [1]. Indeed, one of the major explanations for why sex determination systems are so dynamic is because they are ...

Selfish genetic elements

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Agren, JAC, A. G.,  PLOS Genetics,  14:20. 2018.
Selfish genetic elements (historically also referred to as selfish genes, ultra-selfish genes, selfish DNA, parasitic DNA, genomic outlaws) are genetic segments that can enhance their own transmission at the expense of other genes in the genome, even if this has no or a negative ...

Population dynamics of engineered underdominance and killer-rescue gene drives in the control of disease vectors

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Edgington, MPA, Luke S.,  PLOS Computational Biology,  14:e1006059. 2018.
Vector-borne diseases represent a severe burden to both human and animal health worldwide. The methods currently being used to control a range of these diseases do not appear sufficient to address the issues at hand. As such, alternate methods for the control of vector-borne ...

Carrying a selfish genetic element predicts increased migration propensity in free-living wild house mice

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Runge, J-NL, Anna K.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  285:20181333. 2018.
Life is built on cooperation between genes, which makes it vulnerable to parasitism. Selfish genetic elements that exploit this cooperation can achieve large fitness gains by increasing their transmission relative to the rest of the genome. This leads to counter-adaptations that ...

Invasion and migration of spatially self-limiting gene drives: A comparative analysis

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Dhole, S.; Vella, M. R; Lloyd, A. L.; Gould, F.,  Evolutionary Applications,  11:794-808. 2018.
Recent advances in research on gene drives have produced genetic constructs that could theoretically spread a desired gene (payload) into all populations of a species, with a single release in one place. This attribute has advantages, but also comes with risks and ethical ...

Unexpected patterns of segregation distortion at a selfish supergene in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

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Ross, KGS, DeWayne,  BMC Genetics,  19:101. 2018.
The Sb supergene in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta determines the form of colony social organization, with colonies whose inhabitants bear the element containing multiple reproductive queens and colonies lacking it containing only a single queen. Several features of this ...

Reducing resistance allele formation in CRISPR gene drive

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Champer, JL, Jingxian; Oh, Suh Yeon; Reeves, Riona; Luthra, Anisha; Oakes, Nathan; Clark, Andrew G.; Messer, Philipp W.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  115:5522-5527. 2018.
A functioning gene drive mechanism could fundamentally change our strategies for the control of vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue, and Zika. CRISPR homing gene drive promises such a mechanism, which could be used to rapidly spread genetic modifications among the ...

Catch me if you can: A spatial model for a brake-driven gene drive reversal

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Calvez, V,,Debarre, F., Girardin, Leo,  arXiv,  1812.06641:1-30. 2018.
We successfully prove that, whenever the drive fitness is at most 50% of the wild-type one while the brake fitness is close to the wild-type one, co-extinction of the brake and the drive occurs in the long run.

Modelling Allee effects in a transgenic mosquito population during range expansion

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Walker, MB, Julie C.; Brown, Vicki; Childs, Lauren M.,  Journal of Biological Dynamics,  13:2-22. 2018.
Mosquitoes are vectors for many diseases that cause significant mortality and morbidity. As mosquito populations expand their range, they may undergo mate-finding Allee effects such that their ability to successfully reproduce becomes difficult at low population density. With new ...

B Chromosomes in populations of mammals revisited

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Vujoševi?, MR, Marija; Blagojevi?, Jelena,  Genes,  9:487. 2018.
The study of B chromosomes (Bs) started more than a century ago, while their presence in mammals dates since 1965. As the past two decades have seen huge progress in application of molecular techniques, we decided to throw a glance on new data on Bs in mammals and to review them. ...

Behavior of homing endonuclease gene drives targeting genes required for viability or female fertility with multiplexed guide RNAs

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Oberhofer, GI, Tobin; Hay, Bruce A.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  115:e9343. 2018.
Homing endonuclease gene (HEG)-based gene drive can bring about population suppression when genes required for viability or fertility are targeted. However, these strategies are vulnerable to failure through mechanisms that create alleles resistant to cleavage but that retain ...

Consequences of resistance evolution in a Cas9-based sex conversion-suppression gene drive for insect pest management

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Carrami, Eli M., ME, Kolja N.; Ahmed, Hassan M. M.; Sánchez C., Héctor M.; Dippel, Stefan; Marshall, John M.; Wimmer, Ernst A.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  115:6189-6194. 2018.
Resistance evolution caused by CRISPR/Cas9 gene-drive systems has a major impact on both the future scientific design of such gene-drive systems and on the politics of regulating experimentation and use of such systems. In our study, we show that in-frame drive-resistant alleles ...

Self-limiting population genetic control with sex-linked genome editors

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Burt, AD, Anne,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  285:20180776. 2018.
In male heterogametic species the Y chromosome is transmitted solely from fathers to sons, and is selected for based only on its impacts on male fitness. This fact can be exploited to develop efficient pest control strategies that use Y-linked editors to disrupt the fitness of ...

Transmission and drive involving parasitic B chromosomes

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Jones, RN,  Genes,  9:e388. 2018.
B chromosomes (Bs) are enigmatic additional elements in the genomes of thousands of species of plants, animals, and fungi. How do these non-essential, harmful, and parasitic chromosomes maintain their presence in their hosts, making demands on all the essential functions of their ...

How driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors

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Godfray, HCJN, A.; Burt, A.,  BMC Biology,  15:81. 2017.
Driving endonuclease genes (DEGs) spread through a population by a non-Mendelian mechanism. In a heterozygote, the protein encoded by a DEG causes a double-strand break in the homologous chromosome opposite to where its gene is inserted and when the break is repaired using the ...

Is it time for synthetic biodiversity conservation?

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Piaggio, AJS, G.; Seddon, P. J.; Alphey, L.; Bennett, E. L.; Carlson, R. H.; Friedman, R. M.; Kanavy, D.; Phelan, R.; Redford, K. H.; Rosales, M.; Slobodian, L.; Wheeler, K.,  Trends in Ecology & Evolution,  32:97-107. 2017.
Evidence indicates that, despite some critical successes, current conservation approaches are not slowing the overall rate of biodiversity loss. The field of synthetic biology, which is capable of altering natural genomes with extremely precise editing, might offer the potential ...

Evolutionary dynamics of CRISPR gene drives

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Noble, CO, Jason; Esvelt, Kevin M.; Church, George M.; Nowak, Martin A.,  Science Advances,  3:e1601964. 2017.
The alteration of wild populations has been discussed as a solution to a number of humanity’s most pressing ecological and public health concerns. Enabled by the recent revolution in genome editing, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) gene ...

CRISPR/Cas9 gene drives in genetically variable and nonrandomly mating wild populations

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Drury, DWD, A. L.; Siniard, D. J.; Zentner, G. E.; Wade, M. J.,  Science Advances,  3:e1601910. 2017.
Synthetic gene drives based on CRISPR/Cas9 have the potential to control, alter, or suppress populations of crop pests and disease vectors, but it is unclear how they will function in wild populations. Using genetic data from four populations of the flour beetle Tribolium ...

Genetic conflicts: the usual suspects and beyond

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McLaughlin, RNM, H. S.,  Journal of Experimental Biology,  220:6-17. 2017.
Selfishness is pervasive and manifests at all scales of biology, from societies, to individuals, to genetic elements within a genome. The relentless struggle to seek evolutionary advantages drives perpetual cycles of adaptation and counter-adaptation, commonly referred to as Red ...

Gene drives do not always increase in frequency: from genetic models to risk assessment

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de Jong, TJ,  Journal Fur Verbraucherschutz Und Lebensmittelsicherheit-Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety,  12:299-307. 2017.
Homing genes encode endonucleases that make a double stranded break in the DNA, destroying a target site on the homologous chromosome. When the cell repairs the break the homing allele is copied, converting a heterozygote into a homozygote. This results in gene drive (GD), an ...

Sperm competition suppresses gene drive among experimentally evolving populations of house mice

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Manser, AL, A. K.; Simmons, L. W.; Firman, R. C.,  Molecular Ecology,  26:5784-5792. 2017.
Drive genes are genetic elements that manipulate the 50% ratio of Mendelian inheritance in their own favour, allowing them to rapidly propagate through populations. The action of drive genes is often hidden, making detection and identification inherently difficult. Yet drive ...

Novel CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive constructs reveal insights into mechanisms of resistance allele formation and drive efficiency in genetically diverse populations

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Champer, JR, Riona; Oh, Suh Yeon; Liu, Chen; Liu, Jingxian; Clark, Andrew G.; Messer, Philipp W.,  PLOS Genetics,  13:e1006796. 2017.
Author summary Gene drive systems provide a wide array of potential applications, including new strategies for the control of vector-borne diseases. For example, a functioning gene drive system could rapidly spread a genetically modified allele designed to reduce pathogen ...

X chromosome drive in a widespread Palearctic woodland fly, Drosophila testacea

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Keais, GLH, M. A.; Gowen, B. E.; Perlman, S. J.,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  30:1185-1194. 2017.
Selfish genes that bias their own transmission during meiosis can spread rapidly in populations, even if they contribute negatively to the fitness of their host. Driving X chromosomes provide a clear example of this type of selfish propagation. These chromosomes have important ...

Requirements for Driving Antipathogen Effector Genes into Populations of Disease Vectors by Homing

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Beaghton, AH, Andrew; Nolan, Tony; Crisanti, Andrea; Godfray, H. Charles J.; Burt, Austin,  Genetics,  205:1587-1596. 2017.
There is a need for new interventions against the ongoing burden of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue. One suggestion has been to develop genes encoding effector molecules that block parasite development within the vector, and then use the nuclease-based homing ...

Evolution of Resistance Against CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Drive

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Unckless, RLC, A. G.; Messer, P. W.,  Genetics,  205:827-841. 2017.
CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive (CGD) promises to be a highly adaptable approach for spreading genetically engineered alleles throughout a species, even if those alleles impair reproductive success. CGD has been shown to be effective in laboratory crosses of insects, yet it remains ...

Vector control with driving Y chromosomes: modelling the evolution of resistance

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Beaghton, AB, P. J.; Burt, A.,  Malaria Journal,  16:286. 2017.
: The introduction of new malaria control interventions has often led to the evolution of resistance, both of the parasite to new drugs and of the mosquito vector to new insecticides, compromising the efficacy of the interventions. Recent progress in molecular and population ...

A large gene family in fission yeast encodes spore killers that subvert Mendel’s law

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Hu, WJ, Z. D.; Suo, F.; Zheng, J. X.; He, W. Z.; Du, L. L.,  eLife,  6:e28567. 2017.
Spore killers in fungi are selfish genetic elements that distort Mendelian segregation in their favor. It remains unclear how many species harbor them and how diverse their mechanisms are. Here, we discover two spore killers from a natural isolate of the fission yeast ...

The creation and selection of mutations resistant to a gene drive over multiple generations in the malaria mosquito

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Hammond, AMK, Kyros; Bruttini, Marco; North, Ace; Galizi, Roberto; Karlsson, Xenia; Kranjc, Nace; Carpi, Francesco M.; D’Aurizio, Romina; Crisanti, Andrea; Nolan, Tony,  PLOS Genetics,  13:e1007039. 2017.
Gene drives are selfish genetic elements that are able to bias their own inheritance among offspring. Starting from very low frequencies they can rapidly invade a population in just a few generations, even when imposing a fitness cost. Gene drives based on the precise DNA cutting ...

CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive: Growing pains for a new technology

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Reed, FA,  Genetics,  205:1037-1039. 2017.
In this commentary, Floyd Reed discusses Unckless et al. (2017),; “Evolution of resistance against CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive,”; which was published in the February issue of GENETICS.

No evidence for female discrimination against male house mice carrying a selfish genetic element

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Sutter, AL, A. K.,  Current Zoology,  62:675-685. 2016.
Meiotic drivers distort transmission to the next generation in their favor, with detrimental effects on the fitness of their homologues and the rest of the genome. Male carriers of meiotic drivers commonly inflict costs on their mates through genetic incompatibility, reduced ...

Random and non-random mating populations: Evolutionary dynamics in meiotic drive

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Sarkar, B,  Mathematical Biosciences,  271:29-41. 2016.
Game theoretic tools are utilized to analyze a one-locus continuous selection model of sex-specific meiotic drive by considering nonequivalence of the viabilities of reciprocal heterozygotes that might be noticed at an imprinted locus. The model draws attention to the role of ...

Sexual antagonism and meiotic drive cause stable linkage disequilibrium and favour reduced recombination on the X chromosome

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Rydzewski, WTC, S. A.; Lievano, G.; Lynch, V. D.; Patten, M. M.,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  29:1247-1256. 2016.
Sexual antagonism and meiotic drive are sex-specific evolutionary forces with the potential to shape genomic architecture. Previous theory has found that pairing two sexually antagonistic loci or combining sexual antagonism with meiotic drive at linked autosomal loci augments ...

Intragenomic conflict produces sex ratio dynamics that favor maternal sex ratio distorters

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Rood, ESF, S.,  Ecology and Evolution,  6:8085-8093. 2016.
Maternal sex ratio distorters (MSDs) are selfish elements that enhance their transmission by biasing their host's sex allocation in favor of females. While previous models have predicted that the female-biased populations resulting from sex ratio distortion can benefit from ...

A meiotic drive element in the maize pathogen Fusarium verticillioides is located within a 102 kb region of chromosome V

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Pyle, JP, T.; Merrill, B.; Nsokoshi, C.; McCall, M.; Proctor, R. H.; Brown, D. W.; Hammond, T. M.,  G3-Genes Genomes Genetics,  6:2543-2552. 2016.
Fusarium verticillioides is an agriculturally important fungus because of its association with maize and its propensity to contaminate grain with toxic compounds. Some isolates of the fungus harbor a meiotic drive element known as Spore killer (Sk(K)) that causes nearly all ...

Occasional recombination of a selfish X-chromosome may permit its persistence at high frequencies in the wild

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Pieper, KED, K. A.,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  29:2229-2241. 2016.
The sex-ratio X-chromosome (SR) is a selfish chromosome that promotes its own transmission to the next generation by destroying Y-bearing sperm in the testes of carrier males. In some natural populations of the fly Drosophila neotestacea, up to 30% of the X-chromosomes are SR ...

Rapid evolution of a Y-chromosome heterochromatin protein underlies sex chromosome meiotic drive

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Helleu, QG, P. R.; Dubruille, R.; Ogereau, D.; Prud'homme, B.; Loppin, B.; Montchamp-Moreau, C.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  113:4110-4115. 2016.
Sex chromosome meiotic drive, the non-Mendelian transmission of sex chromosomes, is the expression of an intragenomic conflict that can have extreme evolutionary consequences. However, the molecular bases of such conflicts remain poorly understood. Here, we show that a young and ...

The ability to gain matings, not sperm competition, reduces the success of males carrying a selfish genetic element in a fly

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Verspoor, RLH, G. D. D.; Price, T. A. R.,  Animal Behaviour,  115:207-215. 2016.
Females are expected to avoid low-quality males fathering their offspring. X chromosome meiotic drive (XCMD) makes males very low-quality mates. XCMDs are X chromosomes that, in males, cause the failure of all Y chromosome sperm, so all functional sperm carry the driving X and ...

Meiotic drive changes sperm precedence patterns in house mice: potential for male alternative mating tactics?

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Sutter, AL, A. K.,  BMC Evolutionary Biology,  16:15. 2016.
Background: With female multiple mating (polyandry), male-male competition extends to after copulation (sperm competition). Males respond to this selective pressure through physiological, morphological and behavioural adaptations. Sperm competitiveness is commonly decreased in ...

R2d2 drives selfish sweeps in the house mouse

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Didion, JPM, A. P.; Yadgary, L.; Bell, T. A.; McMullan, R. C.; de Solorzano, L. O.; Britton-Davidian, J.; Bult, C. J.; Campbell, K. J.; Castiglia, R.; Ching, Y. H.; Chunco, A. J.; Crowley, J. J.; Chesler, E. J.; Forster, D. W.; French, J. E.; Gabriel, S. I.; Gatti, D. M.; Garland, T.; Giagia-Athanasopoulou, E. B.; Gimenez, M. D.; Grize, S. A.; Gunduz, I.; Holmes, A.; Hauffe, H. C.; Herman, J. S.; Holt, J. M.; Hua, K. J.; Jolley, W. J.; Lindholm, A. K.; Lopez-Fuster, M. J.; Mitsainas, G.; Mathias, M. D.; McMillan, L.; Ramalhinho, M. D. M.; Rehermann, B.; Rosshart, S. P.; Searle, J. B.; Shiao, M. S.; Solano, E.; Svenson, K. L.; Thomas-Laemont, P.; Threadgill, D. W.; Ventura, J.; Weinstock, G. M.; Pomp, D.; Churchill, G. A.; de Villena, F. P. M.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  33:1381-1395. 2016.
A selective sweep is the result of strong positive selection driving newly occurring or standing genetic variants to fixation, and can dramatically alter the pattern and distribution of allelic diversity in a population. Population-level sequencing data have enabled discoveries ...

The Trojan Female Technique for pest control: a candidate mitochondrial mutation confers low male fertility across diverse nuclear backgrounds in Drosophila melanogaster

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D. K. Dowling, D. M. Tompkins and N. J. Gemmell,  Evolutionary Applications,  8:8710880. 2015.
The Trojan Female Technique (TFT) was recently proposed as a prospective approach to biological pest control. However, applicability of the TFT relies on mitochondrial mutations whose male-sterilizing effects are general across nuclear genomic contexts. We test this assumption, ...

Female house mice avoid fertilization by t haplotype incompatible males in a mate choice experiment

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Manser, AK, B.; Lindholm, A. K.,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  28:54-64. 2015.
The t haplotype in house mice is a well-known selfish genetic element with detrimental, nonadditive fitness consequences to its carriers: recessive lethal mutations cause t/t homozygotes to perish in utero. Given the severe genetic incompatibility imposed by the t haplotype, we ...

Coevolutionary dynamics of polyandry and sex-linked meiotic drive

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Holman, LP, T. A. R.; Wedell, N.; Kokko, H.,  Evolution,  69:709-720. 2015.
Segregation distorters located on sex chromosomes are predicted to sweep to fixation and cause extinction via a shortage of one sex, but in nature they are often found at low, stable frequencies. One potential resolution to this longstanding puzzle involves female multiple mating ...

Origin, evolution, and population genetics of the selfish Segregation Distorter gene duplication in European and African populations of Drosophila melanogaster

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Brand, CLL, A. M.; Presgraves, D. C.,  Evolution,  69:1271-1283. 2015.
Meiotic drive elements are a special class of evolutionarily selfish genes that subvert Mendelian segregation to gain preferential transmission at the expense of homologous loci. Many drive elements appear to be maintained in populations as stable polymorphisms, their equilibrium ...

Sex-ratio meiotic drive and Y-linked resistance in Drosophila affinis

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Unckless, RLL, A. M.; Clark, A. G.,  Genetics,  199:831-840. 2015.
Genetic elements that cheat Mendelian segregation by biasing transmission in their favor gain a significant fitness benefit. Several examples of sex-ratio meiotic drive, where one sex chromosome biases its own transmission at the cost of the opposite sex chromosome, exist in ...

On the origin of sex chromosomes from meiotic drive

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Ubeda, FP, M. M.; Wild, G.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  282:20141932. 2015.
Most animals and many plants make use of specialized chromosomes (sex chromosomes) to determine an individual's sex. Best known are the XY and ZW sex-determination systems. Despite having evolved numerous times, sex chromosomes present something of an evolutionary puzzle. At ...

Presence of segregation distortion in sheep

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Raed, MA,  Research Journal of Biotechnology,  10:87-98. 2015.
The main objective of this project was the investigation of presence of segregation distortion (SD) and description of other relevant parameters of multilocus genetics in Australian Merino sheep. The SD cases investigated three flocks of 98, 79 and 92 offspring and their ...

A critical component of meiotic drive in Neurospora is located near a chromosome rearrangement

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Harvey, AMR, D. G.; Groskreutz, K. M.; Kuntz, D. R.; Sharp, K. J.; Shiu, P. K. T.; Hammond, T. M.,  Genetics,  197:1165-1179. 2014.
Neurospora fungi harbor a group of meiotic drive elements known as Spore killers (Sk). Spore killer-2 (Sk-2) and Spore killer-3 (Sk-3) are two Sk elements that map to a region of suppressed recombination. Although this recombination block is limited to crosses between Sk and ...

Genome rearrangements and pervasive meiotic drive cause hybrid infertility in fission yeast

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Zanders, SEE, M. T.; Yu, J. S.; Kang, J. W.; Fowler, K. R.; Smith, G. R.; Malik, H. S.,  eLife,  3:e02630. 2014.
Hybrid sterility is one of the earliest postzygotic isolating mechanisms to evolve between two recently diverged species. Here we identify causes underlying hybrid infertility of two recently diverged fission yeast species Schizosaccharomyces pombe and S. kambucha, which mate to ...

Segregation distortion affected by transgenes in early generations of rice crop-weed hybrid progeny: Implications for assessing potential evolutionary impacts from transgene flow into wild relatives

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Yang, CW, Z.; Yang, X.; Lu, B. R.,  Journal of Systematics and Evolution,  52:466-476. 2014.
The significant role of segregation distortion as a driving force of evolution has increasingly gained recognition worldwide. Segregation distortion of parental alleles is commonly reported in hybrid progeny between crops and wild relative species, which possibly influences the ...

Centromere strength provides the cell biological basis for meiotic drive and karyotype evolution in mice

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Chmatal, LG, S. I.; Mitsainas, G. P.; Martinez-Vargas, J.; Ventura, J.; Searle, J. B.; Schultz, R. M.; Lampson, M. A.,  Current Biology,  24:2295-2300. 2014.
Mammalian karyotypes (number and structure of chromosomes) can vary dramatically over short evolutionary time frames [1-3]. There are examples of massive karyotype conversion, from mostly telocentric (centromere terminal) to mostly metacentric (centromere internal), in 102-10 s ...

Analysis of segregation distortion and its relationship to hybrid barriers in rice

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Reflinur, K, B.; Jang, S. M.; Chu, S. H.; Bordiya, Y.; Akter, M. B.; Lee, J.; Chin, J. H.; Koh, H. J.,  Rice,  7:3. 2014.
Segregation distortion (SD) is a frequently observed occurrence in mapping populations generated from crosses involving divergent genotypes. In the present study, ten genetic linkage maps constructed from reciprocal F-2 and BC1F1 mapping populations derived from the parents ...

Multiple sex chromosomes in the light of female meiotic drive in amniote vertebrates

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Pokorna, MA, M.; Kratochvil, L.,  Chromosome Research,  22:35-44. 2014.
It is notable that the occurrence of multiple sex chromosomes differs significantly between major lineages of amniote vertebrates. In this respect, birds are especially conspicuous, as multiple sex chromosomes have not been observed in this lineage so far. On the other hand, in ...

Evidence for meiotic drive as an explanation for karyotype changes in fishes

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Molina, WFM, P. A.; Bertollo, L. A. C.; Bidau, C. J.,  Marine Genomics,  15:29-34. 2014.
The process of preferential chromosome segregation during meiosis has been suggested to be responsible for the predominance of certain chromosome types in the karyotypes of mammals, birds and insects. We developed an extensive analysis of the fixation of mono- or bibrachial ...

Preferential accumulation of sex and Bs chromosomes in biarmed karyotypes by meiotic drive and rates of chromosomal changes in fishes

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Molina, WFM, P. A.; Bertollo, L. A. C.; Bidau, C. J.,  Anais Da Academia Brasileira De Ciencias,  86:1801-1812. 2014.
Mechanisms of accumulation based on typical centromeric drive or of chromosomes carrying pericentric inversions are adjusted to the general karyotype differentiation in the principal Actinopterygii orders. Here, we show that meiotic drive in fish is also supported by preferential ...

The organization and evolution of the Responder satellite in species of the Drosophila melanogaster group: dynamic evolution of a target of meiotic drive

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Larracuente, AM,  BMC Evolutionary Biology,  14:233. 2014.
: Satellite DNA can make up a substantial fraction of eukaryotic genomes and has roles in genome structure and chromosome segregation. The rapid evolution of satellite DNA can contribute to genomic instability and genetic incompatibilities between species. Despite its ubiquity ...

Evolution and biology of supernumerary B chromosomes

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Houben, AB-M, A. M.; Klemme, S.; Timmis, J. N.,  Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences,  71:467-478. 2014.
B chromosomes (Bs) are dispensable components of the genome exhibiting non-Mendelian inheritance and have been widely reported on over several thousand eukaryotes, but still remain an evolutionary mystery ever since their first discovery over a century ago [1]. Recent advances in ...

The dynamic relationship between polyandry and selfish genetic elements

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Wedell, N,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  368:10. 2013.
Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) are ubiquitous in eukaryotes and bacteria, and make up a large part of the genome. They frequently target sperm to increase their transmission success, but these manipulations are often associated with reduced male fertility. Low fertility of ...

Meiotic drive in mice carrying t-complex in their genome

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Safronova, LDC, V. L.,  Russian Journal of Genetics,  49:885-897. 2013.
The deviation of alleles and chromosomes from Mendelian inheritance is characteristic of the meiotic drive. This review describes the mechanism in question using the best-studied example of transmitted ratio distortion in the heterozygous male mice carrying t-haplotypes. The ...

Transmission rate variation among three B chromosome variants in the fish Prochilodus lineatus (Characiformes, Prochilodontidae)

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Penitente, MV, T. A.; Senhorini, J. A.; Bortolozzi, J.; Foresti, F.; Porto-Foresti, F.,  Anais Da Academia Brasileira De Ciencias,  85:1371-1377. 2013.
Cytogenetic studies were developed in Prochilodus lineatus (Valenciennes 1836), describing an interesting system of small supernumerary chromosomes. The purpose of this work is to study the frequency and morphology of B chromosomes in individuals from the parental line and the ...

Spread of a new parasitic B chromosome variant is facilitated by high gene flow

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Manrique-Poyato, MIL-L, M. D.; Cabrero, J.; Perfectti, F.; Camacho, J. P. M.,  PLOS One,  8:e83712. 2013.
The B-24 chromosome variant emerged several decades ago in a Spanish population of the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans and is currently reaching adjacent populations. Here we report, for the first time, how a parasitic B chromosome (a strictly vertically transmitted parasite) ...

Diversity and abundance of the abnormal chromosome 10 meiotic drive complex in Zea mays

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Kanizay, LBP, T.; Lowry, E. G.; Hufford, M. B.; Peterson, D. G.; Ross-Ibarra, J.; Dawe, R. K.,  Heredity,  110:570-577. 2013.
Maize Abnormal chromosome 10 (Ab10) contains a classic meiotic drive system that exploits the asymmetry of meiosis to preferentially transmit itself and other chromosomes containing specialized heterochromatic regions called knobs. The structure and diversity of the Ab10 meiotic ...

Natural variation of the Y chromosome suppresses sex ratio distortion and modulates testis-specific gene expression in Drosophila simulans

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Branco, ATT, Y.; Hartl, D. L.; Lemos, B.,  Heredity,  111:8-15. 2013.
X-linked sex-ratio distorters that disrupt spermatogenesis can cause a deficiency in functional Y-bearing sperm and a female-biased sex ratio. Y-linked modifiers that restore a normal sex ratio might be abundant and favored when a X-linked distorter is present. Here we ...

Local dynamics of a fast-evolving sex-ratio system in Drosophila simulans

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Bastide, HG, P. R.; Ogereau, D.; Cazemajor, M.; Montchamp-Moreau, C.,  Molecular Ecology,  22:5352-5367. 2013.
By distorting Mendelian transmission to their own advantage, X-linked meiotic drive elements can rapidly spread in natural populations, generating a sex-ratio bias. One expected consequence is the triggering of a co-evolutionary arms race between the sex chromosome that carries ...

The contribution of female meiotic drive to the evolution of neo-sex chromosomes

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Yoshida, KK, J.,  Evolution,  66:3198-3208. 2012.
Sex chromosomes undergo rapid turnover in certain taxonomic groups. One of the mechanisms of sex chromosome turnover involves fusions between sex chromosomes and autosomes. Sexual antagonism, heterozygote advantage, and genetic drift have been proposed as the drivers for the ...

From genes to games: Cooperation and cyclic dominance in meiotic drive

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Traulsen, AR, F. A.,  Journal of Theoretical Biology,  299:120-125. 2012.
Evolutionary change can be described on a genotypic level or a phenotypic level. Evolutionary game theory is typically thought of as a phenotypic approach, although it is frequently argued that it can also be used to describe population genetic evolution. Interpreting the ...

No evidence of mate discrimination against males carrying a sex ratio distorter in Drosophila pseudoobscura

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Price, TARL, Z.; Smith, D. T.; Hurst, G. D. D.; Wedell, N.,  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology,  66:561-568. 2012.
Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) that spread by manipulating spermatogenesis often have highly deleterious effects on males that carry them. Females that mate with male carriers of SGEs can also suffer significant costs: they receive fewer and poorer-quality sperm, their offspring ...

The Selfish Segregation Distorter Gene Complex of Drosophila melanogaster

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Larracuente, AMP, D. C.,  Genetics,  192:33-53. 2012.
Segregation Distorter (SD) is an autosomal meiotic drive gene complex found worldwide in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. During spermatogenesis, SD induces dysfunction of SD+ spermatids so that SD/SD+ males sire almost exclusively SD-bearing progeny rather than ...

Complex genetic nature of sex-independent transmission ratio distortion in Asian rice species: the involvement of unlinked modifiers and sex-specific mechanisms

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Koide, YS, Y.; Ikenaga, M.; Sawamura, N.; Matsubara, K.; Onishi, K.; Kanazawa, A.; Sano, Y.,  Heredity,  108:242-247. 2012.
Transmission ratio distortion (TRD), in which one allele is transmitted more frequently than the opposite allele, is presumed to act as a driving force in the emergence of a reproductive barrier. TRD acting in a sex-specific manner has been frequently observed in interspecific ...

B chromosomes in plants

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Jones, N,  Plant Biosystems,  146:727-737. 2012.
B chromosomes (Bs) can be described as "selfish chromosomes", a term that has been used for the repetitive DNA which comprises the bulk of the genome in large genome species, except that Bs have a life of their own as independent chromosomes. They can accumulate in number by ...

Local selection underlies the geographic distribution of sex-ratio drive in Drosophila neotestacea

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Dyer, KA,  Evolution,  66:973-984. 2012.
Selfish genetic elements promote their own transmission to the next generation, often at a cost to the host individual. A sex-ratio (SR) driving X chromosome prevents the maturation of Y-bearing sperm, and as a result is transmitted to 100% of the offspring, all of which are ...

Reduced polymorphism associated with X chromosome meiotic drive in the stalk-eyed fly Teleopsis dalmanni

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Christianson, SJB, C. L.; Wilkinson, G. S.,  PLOS One,  6:e27254. 2011.
Sex chromosome meiotic drive has been suggested as a cause of several evolutionary genetic phenomena, including genomic conflicts that give rise to reproductive isolation between new species. In this paper we present a population genetic analysis of X chromosome drive in the ...

B Chromosomes and Sex in Animals

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Camacho, JPMS, M.; Cabrero, J.,  Sexual Development,  5:155-166. 2011.
Supernumerary (B) chromosomes are dispensable elements found in many eukaryote genomes in addition to standard (A) chromosomes. In many respects, B chromosomes resemble sex chromosomes, so that a common ancestry for them has frequently been suggested. For instance, B chromosomes ...

Rapid rise and fall of selfish sex-ratio X Chromosomes in Drosophila simulans: Spatiotemporal analysis of phenotypic and molecular data

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Bastide, HC, M.; Ogereau, D.; Derome, N.; Hospital, F.; Montchamp-Moreau, C.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  28:2461-2470. 2011.
Sex-ratio drive, which has been documented in several Drosophila species, is induced by X-linked segregation distorters. Contrary to Mendel's law of independent assortment, the sex-ratio chromosome (X(SR)) is inherited by more than half the offspring of carrier males, resulting ...

Selfish genetic elements, genetic conflict, and evolutionary innovation

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Werren, JH,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  108:10863-10870. 2011.
Genomes are vulnerable to selfish genetic elements (SGEs), which enhance their own transmission relative to the rest of an individual's genome but are neutral or harmful to the individual as a whole. As a result, genetic conflict occurs between SGEs and other genetic elements in ...

The role of meiotic drive in hybrid male sterility

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McDermott, SRN, M. A. F.,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  365:1265-1272. 2010.
Meiotic drive causes the distortion of allelic segregation away from Mendelian expected ratios, often also reducing fecundity and favouring the evolution of drive suppressors. If different species evolve distinct drive-suppressor systems, then hybrid progeny may be sterile as a ...

Segregation distortion and the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms

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Kozielska, MW, F. J.; Beukeboom, L. W.; Pen, I.,  Heredity,  104:100-112. 2010.
Segregation distorters are alleles that distort normal segregation in their own favour. Sex chromosomal distorters lead to biased sex ratios, and the presence of such distorters, therefore, may induce selection for a change in the mechanism of sex determination. The evolutionary ...

Games in tetrads: Segregation, recombination, and meiotic drive

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Haig, D,  American Naturalist,  176:404-413. 2010.
The two alleles at a heterozygous locus segregate during meiosis, sometimes at meiosis I and sometimes at meiosis II. The timing of segregation is determined by the pattern of crossing-over between a locus and its attached centromeres. Genes near centromeres can exploit this ...

Evolution of the Schlafen genes, a gene family associated with embryonic lethality, meiotic drive, immune processes and orthopoxvirus virulence

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Bustos, ON, S.; Ayers, G.; Casola, C.; Perez-Lamigueiro, M. A.; Chippindale, P. T.; Pritham, E. J.; de la Casa-Esperon, E.,  Gene,  447:11-Jan. 2009.
Genes of the Schlafen family, first discovered in mouse, are expressed in hematopoietic cells and are involved in immune processes. Previous results showed that they are candidate genes for two major phenomena: meiotic drive and embryonic lethality (DDK syndrome). However, these ...

Large-scale selective sweep among Segregation Distorter chromosomes in African populations Drosophila melanogaster

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Presgraves, DCG, P. R.; Cherukuri, A.; Lyttle, T. W.,  PLOS Genetics,  5:e1000463. 2009.
Segregation Distorter (SD) is a selfish, coadapted gene complex on chromosome 2 of Drosophila melanogaster that strongly distorts Mendelian transmission; heterozygous SD/SD(+) males sire almost exclusively SD-bearing progeny. Fifty years of genetic, molecular, and theory work ...

Drive and sperm: The evolution and genetics of male meiotic drive

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Presgraves, D,  Sperm Biology: an Evolutionary Perspective,  12:471-506. 2009.
Some selfish genetic elements in eukaryotic genomes have been harnessed to perform essential functions for their hosts, whereas others have gained transmission advantages at the expense of their hosts. Meiotic drive elements are particularly dramatic examples of the latter. ...

Major evolutionary transitions in centromere complexity

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Malik, HSH, S.,  Cell,  138:1067-1082. 2009.
Centromeres are chromosomal elements that are both necessary and sufficient for chromosome segregation. However, the puzzlingly broad range in centromere complexity, from simple "point" centromeres to multi-megabase arrays of DNA satellites, has defied explanation. We posit that ...

Sex ratio distorter reduces sperm competitive ability in an insect

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Price, TARB, A. J.; Avent, T. D.; Snook, R. R.; Hurst, G. D. D.; Wedell, N.,  Evolution,  62:1644-1652. 2008.
Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) are ubiquitous in animals and often associated with low male fertility due to reduced sperm number in male carriers. In the fruit fly Drosophila pseudoobscura, the meiotic driving X chromosome "sex ratio" kills Y-bearing sperm in carrier males (SR ...

The evolution of sex-independent transmission ratio distortion involving multiple allelic interactions at a single locus in rice

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Koide, YI, M.; Sawamura, N.; Nishimoto, D.; Matsubara, K.; Onishi, K.; Kanazawa, A.; Sano, Y.,  Genetics,  180:409-420. 2008.
Transmission ratio distortion (TRD) is frequently observed in inter-and intraspecific hybrids of plants, leading to a violation of Mendelian inheritance. Sex-independent TRD (siTRD) was detected in a hybrid between Asian cultivated rice and its wild ancestor. Here we examined how ...

X chromosome drive

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Jaenike, J,  Current Biology,  18:R508-R511. 2008.
In the past 10 years, the world record for the men's 100 meter dash has declined from 9.79 to 9.74 seconds, the detection of such small differences being made possible by sophisticated electronic timing devices. If someone were to run the 100 meters in 9.73999 seconds in the 2008 ...

Rapid evolution of yeast centromeres in the absence of drive

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Bensasson, DZ, M.; Burt, A.; Koufopanou, V.,  Genetics,  178:2161-2167. 2008.
To find the most rapidly evolving regions in the yeast genome we compared most of chromosome III from three closely related lineages of the wild yeast Saccharomyces paradoxits. Unexpectedly, the centromere appears to be the fastest-evolving part of the chromosome, evolving even ...

Meiotic drive and sex determination: molecular and cytological mechanisms of sex ratio adjustment in birds

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Rutkowska, JB, A. V.,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  363:1675-1686. 2008.
Differences in relative fitness of male and female offspring across ecological and social environments should favour the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms that enable adjustment of brood sex ratio to the context of breeding. Despite the expectation that genetic sex ...

Sexually antagonistic “Zygotic Drive” of the sex Chromosomes

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Rice, WRG, S.; Friberg, U.,  PLOS Genetics,  4:e1000313. 2008.
Genomic conflict is perplexing because it causes the fitness of a species to decline rather than improve. Many diverse forms of genomic conflict have been identified, but this extant tally may be incomplete. Here, we show that the unusual characteristics of the sex chromosomes ...

Selfish genetic elements promote polyandry in a fly

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Price, TARH, D. J.; Lewis, Z.; Hurst, G. D. D.; Wedell, N.,  Science,  322:1241-1243. 2008.
It is unknown why females mate with multiple males when mating is frequently costly and a single copulation often provides enough sperm to fertilize all a female's eggs. One possibility is that remating increases the fitness of offspring, because fertilization success is biased ...

Small steps or giant leaps for male-killers? Phylogenetic constraints to male-killer host shifts

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Tinsley, MCM, M. E. N.,  BMC Evolutionary Biology,  7:e1000313. 2007.
Background: Arthropods are infected by a wide diversity of maternally transmitted microbes. Some of these manipulate host reproduction to facilitate population invasion and persistence. Such parasites transmit vertically on an ecological timescale, but rare horizontal ...

A sex-ratio meiotic drive system in Drosophila simulans. II: An X-linked distorter

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Tao, YA, L.; Kingan, S. B.; Ke, Y.; Xiao, H.; Hartl, D. L.,  PLOS Biology,  5:2576-2588. 2007.
The evolution of heteromorphic sex chromosomes creates a genetic condition favoring the invasion of sex-ratio meiotic drive elements, resulting in the biased transmission of one sex chromosome over the other, in violation of Mendel's first law. The molecular mechanisms of ...

Chromosome-wide linkage disequilibrium as a consequence of meiotic drive

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Dyer, KAC, B.; Jaenike, J.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  104:1587-1592. 2007.
Adaptation by natural selection proceeds most efficiently when alleles compete solely on the basis of their effects on the survival and reproduction of their carriers. A major condition for this is equal Mendelian segregation, but meiotic drive can short-circuit this process. The ...

The hitchhiking effect of an autosomal meiotic drive gene

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Chevin, LMH, F.,  Genetics,  173:1829-1832. 2006.
Transmission-ratio distortion is a departure from a 1:1 segregation of alleles in the gametes of a heterozygous individual. The so-called driving allele is strongly selected regardless of its effect on the fitness of the carrying individual. It may then have an important impact ...

The maize Ab 10 meiotic drive system maps to supernumerary sequences in a large complex haplotype

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Mroczek, RJM, J. R.; Luce, A. C.; Hiatt, E. N.; Dawe, R. K.,  Genetics,  174:145-154. 2006.
The meiotic drive system on maize abnormal chromosome 10 (Ab10) is contained within a terminal domain of chromatin that extends the long arm of Ab10 to similar to 1.3 times the size of normal chromosome 10L. Ab10 type I (Ab10-I) does not recombine with normal chromosome 10 (N10) ...

Sex-ratio meiotic drive in Drosophila simulans: cellular mechanism, candidate genes and evolution

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Montchamp-Moreau, C,  Biochemical Society Transactions,  34:562-565. 2006.
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 ...

Evidence of susceptibility and resistance to cryptic X-linked meiotic drive in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster

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Reed, FAR, R. G.; Aquadro, C. F.,  Evolution,  59:1280-1291. 2005.
There is mounting evidence consistent with a general role of positive selection acting on the Drosophila melanogaster X-chromosome. However, this positive selection need not necessarily arise from forces that are adaptive to the organism. Nonadaptive meiotic drive may exist on ...

Segregation distortion in hybrids between the Bogota and USA subspecies of Drosophila pseudoobscura

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Orr, HAI, S.,  Genetics,  169:671-682. 2005.
We show that, contrary to claims in the literature, "sterile" males resulting from the cross of the Bogota and USA subspecies of Drosophila pseudoobscura are weakly fertile. Surprisingly, these hybrid males produce almost all daughters when crossed to females of any genotype ...

Degeneration and domestication of a selfish gene in yeast: Molecular evolution versus site-directed mutagenesis

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Koufopanou, VB, A.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  22:1535-1538. 2005.
VDE is a homing endonuclease gene in yeasts with an unusual evolutionary history including horizontal transmission, degeneration, and domestication into the mating-type switching locus HO. We investigate here the effects of these features on its molecular evolution. In addition, ...

Genetic linkage between a sexually selected trait and X chromosome meiotic drive

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Johns, PMW, L. L.; Wilkinson, G. S.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  272:2097-2103. 2005.
Previous studies on the stalk-eyed fly, Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni, have shown that males with long eye-stalks win contests and are preferred by females, and artificial selection on male relative eye span alters brood sex-ratios. Subsequent theory proposes that X-linked meiotic drive ...

Evolution of autosomal suppression of the sex-ratio trait in Drosophila

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Vaz, SCC, A. B.,  Genetics,  166:265-277. 2004.
The sex-ratio trait is the production of female-biased progenies due to X-linked meiotic drive in males of several Drosophila species. The driving X chromosome (called SR) is not fixed due to at least two stabilizing factors: natural selection (favoring ST, the nondriving ...

B chromosomes and genome size in flowering plants

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Trivers, RB, A.; Palestis, B. G.,  Genome,  47:1-8. 2004.
B chromosomes are extra chromosomes found in some, but not all, individuals within a species, often maintained by giving themselves an advantage in transmission, i.e. they drive. Here we show that the presence of B chromosomes correlates to and varies strongly and positively with ...

Evolution of divergent DNA recognition specificities in VDE homing endonucleases from two yeast species

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Posey, KLK, V.; Burt, A.; Gimble, F. S.,  Nucleic Acids Research,  32:3947-3956. 2004.
Homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) are mobile DNA elements that are thought to confer no benefit to their host. They encode site-specific DNA endonucleases that perpetuate the element within a species population by homing and disseminate it between species by horizontal transfer. ...

Rapid suppression of drive for a parasitic B chromosome

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Perfectti, FC, J. M.; Mesa, J. A.; Cabrero, J.; Bakkali, M.; Lopez-Leon, M. D.; Camacho, J. P. M.,  Cytogenetic and Genome Research,  106:338-343. 2004.
The persistence of parasitic B chromosomes in natural populations depends on both B ability to drive and host response to counteracting it. In the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans, the B-24 chromosome is the most widespread B chromosome variant in the Torrox area ( Malaga, ...

The distribution of B chromosomes across species

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Palestis, BGT, R.; Burt, A.; Jones, R. N.,  Cytogenetic and Genome Research,  106:151-158. 2004.
In this review we look at the broad picture of how B chromosomes are distributed across a wide range of species. We review recent studies of the factors associated with the presence of Bs across species, and provide new analyses with updated data and additional variables. The ...

B chromosomes are more frequent in mammals with acrocentric karyotypes: support for the theory of centromeric drive

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Palestis, BGB, A.; Jones, R. N.; Trivers, R.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  271:S22-S24. 2004.
The chromosomes of mammals tend to be either mostly acrocentric (having one long arm) or mostly bi-armed, with few species having intermediate karyotypes. The theory of centromeric drive suggests that this observation reflects a bias during female meiosis, favouring either more ...

B chromosomes in Sternorrhyncha (Hemiptera, Insecta)

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Maryanska-Nadachowska, A,  Cytogenetic and Genome Research,  106:210-214. 2004.
In the hemipteroid insects of the suborder Sternorrhyncha, B chromosomes are relatively common in comparison with other suborders of Hemiptera. However, the occurrence of supernumerary chromosomes is restricted, in most cases, to several genera or closely related species. At ...

Meiotic drive and sex chromosome cycling

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Hall, DW,  Evolution,  58:925-931. 2004.
Sex-linked meiotic drive is found in a broad variety of taxa, including insects, birds, and mammals. In populations of some species, we see four types of sex chromosomes segregating: normal and driving X chromosomes and susceptible and resistant Y chromosomes. A theoretical ...

Sperm survival in female stalk-eyed flies depends on seminal fluid and meiotic drive

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Fry, CLW, G. S.,  Evolution,  58:1622-1626. 2004.
Sperm competition is common in many insect species; however, the mechanisms underlying differences in sperm precedence are not well understood. In the stalk-eyed fly, Cyrtodiopsis whitei (Diptera, Diopsidae), sperm precedence is influenced by the presence of sex chromosome ...

Homing endonuclease genes: the rise and fall and rise again of a selfish element

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Burt, AK, V.,  Current Opinion in Genetics & Development,  14:609-615. 2004.
Homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) are selfish genetic elements that spread by first cleaving chromosomes that do not contain them and then getting copied across to the broken chromosome as a byproduct of the repair process. The success of this strategy will depend on the ...

Genetic dissection of hybrid incompatibilities between Drosophila simulans and D-mauritiana. III. Heterogeneous accumulation of hybrid incompatibilities, degree of dominance, and implications for Haldane’s rule

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Tao, YH, D. L.,  Evolution,  57:2580-2598. 2003.
The genetic basis of Haldane's rule was investigated through estimating the accumulation of hybrid incompatibilities between Drosophila simulans and D. mauritiana by means of introgression. The accumulation of hybrid male sterility (HMS) is at least 10 times greater than that of ...

Meiotic drive – Bickering genes shape evolution – Not all genes follow the rules of inheritance; now researchers are discovering how organisms adapt to the troublemakers

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Pennisi, E,  Science,  301:1837-1839. 2003.
Reproduction is supposed to be an equal opportunity event. Consider humans: In developing sperm, the sex chromosomes sort 50:50 such that half the sperm carry the male-defining Y chromosome and the rest sport an X. Only the randomness of fertilization leads to families of nine ...

The aging effect in the segregation distorter system of Drosophila melanogaster

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Oh, SCN, J. G.,  Korean Journal of Genetics,  25:237-242. 2003.
The SD/SD+ heterozygous male of Drosophila melanogaster transmits the SD second chromosome to its progeny in excess of the Mendelian frequency of 0.5. The k value is defined as the frequency of the SD chromosome recovered among progeny from such a male. This value has been shown ...

B chromosomes in plants: escapees from the A chromosome genome?

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Jones, NH, A.,  Trends in Plant Science,  8:417-423. 2003.
B chromosomes are dispensable elements that do not recombine with the A chromosomes of the regular complement and that follow their own evolutionary track. In some cases, they are known to be nuclear parasites with autonomous modes of inheritance, exploiting 'drive' to ensure ...

Four loci on abnormal chromosome 10 contribute to meiotic drive in maize

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Hiatt, END, R. K.,  Genetics,  164:699-709. 2003.
We provide a genetic analysis of the meiotic drive system on maize abnormal chromosome 10 (Ab10) that causes preferential segregation of specific chromosomal regions to the reproductive megaspore. The data indicate that at least four chromosomal regions contribute to meiotic ...

Site-specific selfish genes as tools for the control and genetic engineering of natural populations

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Burt, A,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  270:921-928. 2003.
Site-specific selfish genes exploit host functions to copy themselves into a defined target DNA sequence, and include homing endonuclease genes, group II introns and some LINE-like transposable elements. If such genes can be engineered to target new host sequences, then they can ...

Adaptation for horizontal transfer in a homing endonuclease

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Koufopanou, VG, M. R.; Burt, A.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  19:239-246. 2002.
Selfish genes of no function other than self-propagation are susceptible to degeneration if they become fixed in a population. and regular transfer to new species may be the only means for their long-term persistence. To test this idea we surveyed 24 species of yeast for VDE, a ...

Meiotic drive alters sperm competitive ability in stalk-eyed flies

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Wilkinson, GSF, C. L.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  268:2559-2564. 2001.
Meiotic drive results when sperm carrying a driving chromosome preferentially survive development. Meiotic drive should therefore influence sperm competition because drive males produce fewer sperm than non-drive males. Whether meiotic drive also influences the competitive ...

Selection and segregation distortion in a sex-differentiated population

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Weissing, FJvB, M.,  Theoretical Population Biology,  60:327-341. 2001.
We extend the classical model for selection at an autosomal locus in a sex-differentiated population to include segregation distortion. The equations remain the same, but the fitness parameters are interpreted differently and refer to alleles instead of genotypes. We derive ...

Sex-ratio segregation distortion associated with reproductive isolation in Drosophila

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Tao, YH, D. L.; Laurie, C. C.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  98:13183-13188. 2001.
Sex-ratio distortion is the most common form of non-Mendelian segregation observed in natural populations. It may occur even more frequently than direct observations suggest, because the dysgenic population consequences of a biased sex ratio are expected to result in the rapid ...

Sex chromosome meiotic drive

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Jaenike, J,  Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics,  32:25-49. 2001.
Sex chromosome drive refers to the unequal transmission of X and Y chromosomes from individuals of the heterogametic sex, resulting in biased sex ratios among progeny and within populations, The presence of driving sex chromosomes can reduce mean fitness within a population, ...

The role of selfish genetic elements in eukaryotic evolution

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Hurst, GDDW, J. H.,  Nature Reviews Genetics,  2:597-606. 2001.
'Selfish genetic elements', such as transposons, homing endonucleases, meiotic drive chromosomes and heritable microorganisms, are common features of eukaryotes. However, their importance in the evolution of eukaryotic genomes is still controversial. In this review, we discuss ...

Outcrossed sex allows a selfish gene to invade yeast populations

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Goddard, MRG, D.; Burt, A.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  268:2537-2542. 2001.
Homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) in eukaryotes are optional genes that have no obvious effect on host phenotype except for causing chromosomes not containing a cop), of the gene to be cut, thus causing them to be inherited at a greater than Mendelian rate via gene conversion. ...

Co-existence of hosts and sex ratio distorters in structured populations

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Hatcher, MJD, A. M.; Tofts, C.,  Evolutionary Ecology Research,  2:185-205. 2000.
Vertically transmitted parasites occur in several invertebrate species, and alter host reproduction by a variety of mechanisms, including sex ratio distortion via feminization. Efficient feminizers are predicted to drive homogenous host populations extinct due to the absence of ...

Persistence of selfish genetic elements: population structure and conflict

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Hatcher, MJ,  Trends in Ecology & Evolution,  15:271-277. 2000.
Selfish genetic elements are vertically transmitted factors that spread by obtaining a transmission advantage relative to the rest of the genome of their host organism, often with a cost to overall host fitness. In many cases, conventional population genetics theory predicts them ...

Models of sex-ratio meiotic drive and sexual selection in stalk-eyed flies

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Lande, RW, G. S.,  Genetics Research,  74:245-253. 1999.
Hypertrophied sexually dimorphic eye stalks have evolved independently in several families of Diptera, with the eyespan of males exceeding their total body length in some species. These structures function in intermale contests for territories and in mate attraction, the ...

How common are meiotically driving sex chromosomes in insects?

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Jiggins, FMH, G. D. D.; Majerus, M. E. N.,  American Naturalist,  154:481-483. 1999.
In summary, we argue that the hypothesis that sex chromosome; meiotic drive is common within the insects is in; fact not proved. We feel that, although it is unlikely that; it will be found exclusively in the Diptera, there is a case; to be made that the Diptera are a hot spot ...

Suppression of sex-ratio meiotic drive and the maintenance of Y-chromosome polymorphism in Drosophila

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Jaenike, J,  Evolution,  53:164-174. 1999.
Like several other species of Drosophila, D. quinaria is polymorphic for X-chromosome meiotic drive; matings involving males that carry a "sex-ratio" X chromosome (X(SR)) result in the production of strongly female-biased offspring sex ratios (Jaenike 1996). A survey of isofemale ...

Invasion of one insect species, Adalia bipunctata, by two different male-killing bacteria

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Hurst, GDDvdS, J. H. G.; Majerus, T. M. O.; Bertrand, D.; Zakharov, I. A.; Baungaard, J.; Volkl, W.; Stouthamer, R.; Majerus, M. E. N.,  Insect Molecular Biology,  8:133-139. 1999.
Male-killing bacteria, which are inherited through the female line and kill male progeny only, are known from five different orders of insect. Our knowledge of the incidence of these elements has stemmed from discovery of their phenotype in different species, Our estimate of the ...

Population dynamics under parasitic sex ratio distortion

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Hatcher, MJT, D. E.; Dunn, A. M.; Tofts, C.,  Theoretical Population Biology,  56:11-28. 1999.
We analyse the population dynamic effects of sex ratio distortion by vertically transmitted, feminizing parasites, We show that, for diploid hosts, sex ratio distortion may lead to extinction as males become too rare to maintain the host population through reproduction. ...

Recurrent invasion and extinction of a selfish gene

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Goddard, MRB, A.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  96:13880-13885. 1999.
Homing endonuclease genes show super-Mendelian inheritance, which allows them to spread in populations even when they are of no benefit to the host organism. To test the idea that regular horizontal transmission is necessary for the long-term persistence of these genes, we ...

Are Drosophila SR drive chromosomes always balanced?

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Carvalho, ABV, S. C.,  Heredity,  83:221-228. 1999.
SR chromosomes are the best-known case of sex chromosome meiotic drive. These X chromosomes cause the production of female-biased progenies in several Drosophila species; Due to their meiotic drive advantage, they are expected to spread and become fixed, resulting in population ...

Evolution of driving X chromosomes and resistance factors in experimental populations of Drosophila simulans

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Capillon, CA, A.,  Evolution,  53:506-517. 1999.
Sex-ratio drive is a particular case of meiotic drive, described in several Drosophila species, that causes males bearing driving X chromosome to produce a large excess of females in their progeny. In Drosophila simulans, driving X chromosomes and resistance factors located on ...

Segregation distortion in a deme structured population: opposing demands of gene, individual and group selection

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van Boven, MW, F. J.,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  12:80-93. 1999.
The evolution of segregation distortion is governed by the interplay of selection at different levels. Despite their systematic advantage at the gamete level, none of the well-known segregation distorters spreads to fixation since they induce severe negative fitness effects at ...

Meiotic drive favors Robertsonian metacentric chromosomes in the common shrew (Sorex araneus, Insectivora, Mammalia)

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Wyttenbach, AB, P.; Hausser, J.,  Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics,  83:199-206. 1998.
Meiotic drive has attracted much interest because it concerns the robustness of Mendelian segregation and its genetic and evolutionary stability. We studied chromosomal meiotic drive in the common shrew (Sorex araneus, Insectivora, Mammalia), which exhibits one of the most ...

Male eye span in stalk-eyed flies indicates genetic quality by meiotic drive suppression

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Wilkinson, GSP, D. C.; Crymes, L.,  Nature,  391:276-279. 1998.
In some species, females choose mates possessing ornaments that predict offspring survival(1-5). However, sexual selection by female preference for male genetic quality(6-8) remains controversial because conventional genetic mechanisms maintain insufficient variation in male ...

Sex determination, sex ratios, and genetic conflict

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Werren, JHB, L. W.,  Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics,  29:233-261. 1998.
Genetic mechanisms of sex determination are unexpectedly diverse and change rapidly during evolution. We review the role of genetic conflict as the driving force behind this diversity and turnover. Genetic conflict occurs when different components of a genetic system are subject ...

Evolution of segregation distortion: Potential for a high degree of polymorphism

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van Boven, MW, F. J.,  Journal of Theoretical Biology,  192:131-142. 1998.
By means of a population genetical model, we study the evolution of segregation distortion. Most models of segregation distortion focus on a single distorter allele. In contrast, we consider the competition between a large number of distorters. Motivated by systems as the t ...

The dynamics of maternal-effect selfish genetic elements

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Smith, NGC,  Journal of Theoretical Biology,  191:173-180. 1998.
Maternal-effect selfish genes such as Medea or Seat act to kill progeny that do not bear a copy of the selfish gene present in the mother. Previous models of this system allowed for two types of allele, the selfish (killer) type and the sensitive (susceptible) wild-type. These ...

Sex ratio distortion in Acraea encedon (Lepidoptera : Nymphalidae) is caused by a male-killing bacterium

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Jiggins, FMH, G. D. D.; Majerus, M. E. N.,  Heredity,  81:87-91. 1998.
Females of the butterfly Acraea encedon produce either entirely female offspring or males and females in an almost 1:1 sex ratio. The sex ratio produced is maternally inherited and was previously attributed to sex chromosome meiotic drive. We report that all-female lineages are ...

Selfish genetic elements and speciation

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Hurst, GDDS, M.,  Heredity,  80:2-8. 1998.
This review concerns the importance of selfish genetic elements (SGEs) in speciation. We assess the importance of medea genes, meiotic drive elements, transposable elements and the bacterium Wolbachia in the creation of postzygotic isolation. Although all of these elements can ...

Sex chromosome meiotic drive in stalk-eyed flies

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Presgraves, DCS, E.; Wilkinson, G. S.,  Genetics,  147:1169-1180. 1997.
Meiotically driven sex chromosomes can quickly spread to fixation and cause population extinction unless balanced by selection or suppressed by genetic modifiers. We report results of genetic analyses that demonstrate that extreme female-biased sex ratios in two sister species of ...

Competition between segregation distorters: Coexistence of ”superior” and ”inferior” haplotypes at the t complex

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vanBoven, MW, F. J.; Heg, D.; Huisman, J.,  Evolution,  50:2488-2498. 1996.
By means of population genetical models, we investigate the competition between sex-specific segregation distorters. Although the models are quite general, they are motivated by a specific example, the t complex of the house mouse. Some variants at this gene complex, the t ...

Meiotic drive in female mice: An essay

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Ruvinsky, A,  Mammalian Genome,  6:315-320. 1995.
Since the rediscovery of Mendel's laws, geneticists have accumulated various examples in which equal meiotic segregation in heterozygotes is violated. However, only a few natural meiotic drive systems have been characterized in detail and the majority of these are sex chromosome ...

Sex-ratio distortion in Drosophila simulans – cooccurrence of a meiotic drive and a suppressor of drive

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Mercot, HA, A.; Jacques, M.; Montchampmoreau, C.,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  8:283-300. 1995.
A sex-ratio distortion factor was found at high frequency in D. simulans strains from Seychelles and New Caledonia. This factor is poorly or not expressed within those strains which are resistant to it. Its presence was detected by crossing females from New Caledonia or the ...

Meiotic drive an Myotonic Dystrophy – Reply

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Carey, NJ, K.; Nokelainen, P.; Peltonen, L.; Savontaus, M. L.; Juvonen, V.; Anvret, M.; Grandell, U.; Chotai, K.; Robertson, E.; Middletonprice, H.; Malcolm, S.,  Nature Genetics,  10:133-133. 1995.
Myotonic dystrophy (DM) is a trinucleotide disorder and in sub-clinical individuals there is considerable variation in the length of the CTG repeat. Two groups have recently analysed the patterns of segregation of different sized alleles at this locus and both report an excess of ...

Meiotic drive at the myotonic dystrophy locus

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Gennarelli, MD, B.; Baiget, M.; Martorell, L.; Novelli, G.,  Journal of Medical Genetics,  31:980-980. 1994.
The mutation underlying myotonic dystrophy (DM, MIM* 160900) is the expansion of a CTG trinucleotide repeat sequence at the 3' untranslated region of a protein kinase gene (MT-PK).' The kinetics of this process is influenced by the sex of the transmitting parent and size of the ...

The evolution of lethals in the t-haplotype system of the mouse

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Charlesworth, B,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  258:101-107. 1994.
The evolution of lethal haplotypes in the t-haplotype segregation distortion system of Mus is examined by mathematical and computer models. The models assume that there is reproductive compensation for the loss of lethal embryos, such that the net reproductive success of a female ...

Hypothetical sisterkiller

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Butcher, DLD, H. W.,  Nature,  369:26-26. 1994.
It was premature of Hurst in his News and Views article I to accept Haig's claim2 that a hypothetical meiotic drive element, SisterKiller, can lead to evolution from one-step to multi-step meiosis. The basis of Haig's claim is that a SisterKiller allele that causes a gamete to ...

The Segregation Distorter (SD) complex and the accumulation of deleterious genes in laboratory strains of Drosophila melanogaster

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Dominguez, AS, E.; Albornoz, J.; Gutierrez, A.,  Theoretical and Applied Genetics,  87:479-486. 1993.
Segregation Distorter (SD) associated with the second chromosome of D. melanogaster is found in nature at equilibrium frequencies lower than 5%. We report extremely high frequencies of SD (30-50%) in two selected strains, established in 1976, and show it to be responsible for the ...

The evolution of unusual chromosomal systems in coccoids: Extraordinary sex-ratios revisited

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Haig, D,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  6:69-77. 1993.
Coccoids (scale insects) exhibit a wide variety of chromosomal systems. In many species, paternal chromosomes are eliminated from the male germline such that all of a male's sperm transmit an identical set of maternal chromosomes. In such species, an offspring's sex is determined ...

Evolution of the mouse t-haplotype – Recent and worldwide introgression to Mus musculus

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Morita, TK, H.; Murata, K.; Nozaki, M.; Delarbre, C.; Willison, K.; Satta, Y.; Sakaizumi, M.; Takahata, N.; Gachelin, G.; Matsushiro, A.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  89:6851-6855. 1992.
Mouse t haplotypes are variants of chromosome 17, consisting of four inversions. Despite the homozygous lethality and pleiotropic effect on embryonic development, sperm production, and recombination, they have widely spread in natural populations of the house mouse (10-40% in ...

Can transposable elements be used to drive disease refractoriness genes into vector populations?

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M. G. Kidwell and J. M. C. Ribeiro,  Parasitology Today,  8:325-329. 1992.
A number of biological procedures are currently being considered as alternatives to insecticide-based methods for the control of insect vectors of disease. Among these are the adaptation of various genetic mechanisms to drive genes of interest, such as refractoriness to malaria ...

Genetic scrambling as a defense against meiotic drive

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Haig, DG, A.,  Journal of Theoretical Biology,  153:531-558. 1991.
Genetic recombination has important consequences, including the familiar rules of Mendelian genetics. Here we present a new argument for the evolutionary function of recombination based on the hypothesis that meiotic drive systems continually arise to threaten the fairness of ...

Divergence of meiotic drive-suppression systems as an explanation for sex-biased hybrid sterility and inviability

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Frank, SA,  Evolution,  45:262-267. 1991.
Two empirical generalizations about speciation remain unexplained: the tendency of the heterogametic sex to be sterile or inviable in F1 hybrids (Haldane's rule), and the tendency of the X chromosome to harbor the genetic elements that cause this sex bias in hybrid fitness. I ...

A comparative approach to the population genetics theory of segregation distortion

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Feldman, MWO, Sarah P.,  American Naturalist,  137:443-456. 1991.
Mathematical models of four well-known naturally occurring systems of segregation distortion are compared. These include the sex-ratio chromosome of Drosophila pseudoobscura, the Segregation Distorter (SD) complex of D. melanogaster, the t locus in Mus musculus, and the sex-ratio ...

X-chromosome segregation distortion in Drosophila

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Curtsinger, JW,  American Naturalist,  137:344-348. 1991.
The sex-ratio trait exhibits both discrete and continuous variation in Drosophila pseudoobscura. The discrete variation is caused by X-chromosome meiotic drive. The evolutionary forces maintaining the meiotic-drive polymorphism include strong viability selection against ...

Why is Mendelian segregation so exact

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Crow, JF,  Bioessays,  13:305-312. 1991.
The precise 1:1 segregation of Mendelian heredity is ordinarily taken for granted, yet there are numerous examples of 'cheating' genes that perpetuate themselves in the population by biasing the Mendelian process in their favor. One example is the Segregation Distortion system of ...

Sex ratio polymorphism in Drosophila pseudoobscura

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Beckenbach, AT,  American Naturalist,  137:340-343. 1991.
I studied "sex-ratio" (SR) genotype frequencies in two populations of Drosophila pseudoobscura from southeastern Arizona: Bear Creek Canyon and Tucson. Wild-inseminated females were collected, their fecundities measured in the laboratory, and their SR genotypes inferred by ...

B-chromosome drive

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Jones, RN,  American Naturalist,  137:430-442. 1991.
The view of B-chromosome polymorphisms that is coming into favor resembles the so-called "parasitic" model, which was first advanced 45 yr ago. Since that time, repeated and ongoing efforts have been made to ascribe an adaptive role to B's (e.g., in terms of phenotypic advantage, ...

Molecular and chromosomal studies on the origin of t-haplotypes in mice

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Hammer, MF,  American Naturalist,  137:359-365. 1991.
Mouse t haplotypes are variant forms of the proximal third of chromosome 17 that enhance their representation in the gene pool by means of a male-specific transmission-ratio distortion. As with other systems of meiotic drive, they are maintained as independent genetic entities by ...

Sex-ratio meiotic drive in Drosophila testacea

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James, ACJ, J.,  Genetics,  126:651-656. 1990.
We document the occurrence of "sex ratio" meiotic drive in natural populations of Drosophila testacea. "Sex ratio" males sire greater than 95% female offspring. Genetic analysis reveals that this effect is due to a meiotically driven X chromosome, as in other species of ...

Evolution of the segregation ratio – Modification of gene conversion and meiotic drive

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Bengtsson, BOU, M. K.,  Theoretical Population Biology,  38:192-218. 1990.
We compare the evolutionary pressures that direct the modification of gene conversion and meiotic drive at loci subject to purifying and overdominant viability selection. Gene conversion differs from meiotic drive in that modifers do not affect their own segregation ratios, even ...

Genetics-driving genes and chromosomes

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Charlesworth, B,  Nature,  332:394-395. 1988.
Thereare several genetic and chromosomal systems in which Mendel's first law - the equal probability of transmission of maternal and paternal alternative alleles or homologues - is violated. This phenomenon was named 'meiotic drive' in 1957 by Sandler and Novitski, who drew ...

Meiotic drive in the sex-chromosome system of the varying lemming, Dicrostonyx torquatus Pall (Rodentia, Microtinae)

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Gileva, EA,  Heredity,  59:383-389. 1987.
In the varying lemming, numerous fertile XY females occur regularly due to the X-linked mutation (X*). Their frequency both in natural populations and laboratory colonies turned out to be about twice higher than that expected under random segregation of heterochromosomes in both ...

Detection of Rsp and modifier variation in the meiotic drive system Segregation Distorter (SD) of Drosophila melanogaster

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Lyttle, TWB, J. G.; Ganetzky, B.,  Genetics,  114:183-202. 1986.
Identification of allelic variability at the two major loci (Sd and Rsp) that interact to cause sperm dysfunction in Segregation distorter (SD) males of D. melanogaster has been hampered by the difficulty in separating the elements recombinationally. In addition, small ...

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

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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 ...

Polymorphism in the rates of meiotic drive acting on the B-chromosome of Myrmeleotettix maculatus

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Shaw, MWH, G. M.; Anderson, D. A.,  Heredity,  55:61-68. 1985.
A survey of all the available data on meiotic transmission rates in M. maculatus suggests that a polymorphism in female transmission rate exists in most natural populations. Differences in the frequency of the types or in the transmission rates they manifest may exist between ...

The fate of autosomeal modifiers of the sex-ratio trait in Drosophila and other sex-linked meiotic drive systems.

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Wu, CI,  Theoretical Population Biology,  24:107-120. 1983.
A model is proposed to analyze the behavior of autosomal suppressor modifiers of "Sex-Ratio" meiotic drive in drosophila. These modifiers, if neutral in fitness, are expected to increase because they tend to be associated with the rare sex (males). However, selection operating on ...

A 2-locus model for polymorphism for sex-linked meiotic drive modifiers with possible applications to Aedes aegypti

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Maffi, GJ, S. D.,  Theoretical Population Biology,  19:19-36. 1981.
A two-locus model is presented which shows the possibility of maintaining a polymorphism for modifiers of sex-linked meiotic drive in the absence of fitness differences. The model is very similar to the situation actually found in some laboratory strains of the mosquito Aedes ...

Experimental population-genetics of meiotic drive systems .3: Neutralization of sex-ratio distortion in Drosophila through sex-chromosome aneuploidy

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Lyttle, TW,  Genetics,  98:317-334. 1981.
Laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster were challenged by; pseudo-Y drive, which mimics true Y-chromosome meiotic drive through the; incorporation of Segregation Distorter (SD) in a T(Y;2) complex. This causes; extreme sex-ratio distrotion and can ultimately lead to ...

Experimental population-genetics of meiotic drive systems .2: Accumulation of genetic modifiers of Segregation Distorter (SD) in laboratory populations

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Lyttle, TW,  Genetics,  91:339-357. 1979.
The accumulation of modifiers of the meiotic-drive locus Segregation; Distorter (SD) in Drosophila melanogaster was monitored by measuring the; changes in the mean and variance of drive strength (in terms of “make” value); that occur in laboratory populations when SD and SD+ ...

Sex-ratio trait in Drosophila pseudoobscura – Fertility relations of males and meiotic drive.

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Beckenbach, AT,  American Naturalist,  112:97-117. 1978.
In the early analysis of the "sex-ratio" polymorphism (SR) of Drosophila pseudoobscura, complete meiotic drive was assumed, and study centered on the nature of the selective forces opposing its spread. Policansky and Ellison (1970) found that the mechanism of SR involved the ...

Modifier theory of meiotic drive: Is Mendelial segregation stable

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Liberman, U,  Theoretical Population Biology,  10:127-132. 1976.
The evolutionary fate of rare modifiers, based on the modifier theory of meiotic drive, is studied in this paper. It is shown that a polymorphism based on Mendelian segregation is never stable for any recombination frequencies between 0 and 12, and that, for tight linkage between ...

Analysis of a general population genetic model of meiotic drive

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Hartl, DL,  Evolution,  24:538-545. 1970.
The purpose of this article is to present the detailed solution of a model of meiotic drive which Lewontin (1968) has suggested would be helpful in understanding the evo- lutionary dynamics of the t-alleles in the house mouse. Because mice tend to breed in small endogamous family ...

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

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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, ...

Extraordinary sex ratios

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W. D. Hamilton,  Science,  156:477-488. 1967.
The two sexes are usually produced in approximately equal numbers. Fisher (1) was the first to explain why, under natural selection, this should be so, irrespective of the particular mechanism of sex determination. His rather tersely expressed argument has been clarified by ...

Genetic distortion of sex ratio in a mosquito Aedes aegypti

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Hickey, WAC, G. B.,  Genetics,  53:1177-1196. 1966.
CRAIG, HICKEY and VANDEHEY (1960) reported that a hereditary factor transmitted by males was responsible for high male ratios in A. aegypti. This phenomenon was designated as male-producing or MP. Males from high maleproducing families produced a high proportion of males in their ...

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 ...

Meiotic drive in natural-populations of Drosophila melanogaster 3: Populational implications of the Segregation-Distorter locus

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Hiraizumi, YS, L.; Crow, J. E.,  Evolution,  14:433-444. 1960.
If, among the successful gametes frm heterozygotes, one allele is regularly included in more than half, it may increase in frequency even if it has a harmful effect. Unequal gamete production, when attributable to the mechanics of meiosis, has been called meiotic drive (Sandler ...

Meiotic drive as an evolutionary force

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Sandler, L. and Novitski, E.,  American Naturalist,  91:105-110. 1957.
A heterozygote for alleles A and A' ordinarilly produces gametes carrying each of the alleles with a frequency of 50 per cent. The constancy of allele frequencies from one generation to the nest in natural populations of diploid species depends on this equality, which itself ...