Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on September 30, 2004.

Genetics, Vol. 169, 347-353, January 2005, Copyright © 2005
doi:10.1534/genetics.104.032789

A Novel Meiotic Drive Locus Almost Completely Distorts Segregation in Mimulus (Monkeyflower) Hybrids

* Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812
{dagger} Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708

1 Corresponding author: Division of Biological Sciences, 104 Health Sciences Bldg., University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812.
E-mail: lila.fishman{at}mso.umt.edu

We report the discovery, mapping, and characterization of a meiotic drive locus (D) exhibiting nearly 100% nonrandom transmission in hybrids between two species of yellow monkeyflowers, outcrossing Mimulus guttatus and selfing M. nasutus. Only 1% of F2 hybrids were M. nasutus homozygotes at the marker most tightly linked to D. We used a set of reciprocal backcrosses to distinguish among male-specific, female-specific, and zygote-specific sources of transmission ratio distortion. Transmission was severely distorted only when the heterozygous F1 acted as the female parent in crosses to either parental species, ruling out pollen competition and zygote mortality as potential sources of drive. After four generations of backcrossing to M. nasutus, nearly isogenic lines were still >90% heterozygous at markers linked to D, suggesting that heterozygosity at the drive locus alone is sufficient for nonrandom transmission. A lack of dramatic female fitness costs in these lines rules out alternatives involving ovule or seed mortality and points to a truly meiotic mechanism of drive. The strength and direction of drive in this system is consistent with population genetic theory of selfish element evolution under different mating systems. These results are the first empirical demonstration of the strong female-specific drive predicted by new models of selfish centromere turnover.




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