DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF GENOME ELIMINATION RESULTING IN TRANSMISSION RATIO DISTORTION OF THE T-007 MALE RECOMBINATION (MR) CHROMOSOME OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Kathleen A. Matthews ¹

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712

T-007 is a Male Recombination (MR) second chromosome that induces transmission ratio distortion (at its own expense) when heterozygous with many laboratory marker chromosomes. The developmental timing of elimination of T-007 chromosomes has been investigated. About 21% of the T-007 chromosomes expected to be recovered among the progeny of heterozygous T-007 males are lost at some point between fertilization and eclosion (representing 29% of the total distortion observed in young males). Another 52% of the expected number of T-007 chromosomes are lost as a result of spermatid abortion during spermiogenesis (representing 71% of the total distortion). Abnormalities in both the number of spermatids per bundle and the structure of spermatid tails are seen at the earliest stages of spermiogenesis in T-007 males.