Abstract

P-element-induced recombination in Drosophila melanogaster occurs premeiotically. Recombinants are therefore expected to accumulate in the stem cells of the germline of Pelement-carrying males. We show that both the recombination frequency and the incidence of “clustering” increase with the age of males carrying various P-element derivatives. The combination of end-deleted elements can lead to average recombination frequencies >50% with individual instances of 100% recombination. These elements also lowered the fertility of the carriers. We investigated these features by constructing an analytical and a computer simulation model of the course of events in the germline, incorporating the recently proposed hybrid element insertion (HEI) model of Pelement activity. The model is able to predict extreme recombination levels, segregation ratio biases and lowered fertility through cell death in a single analysis.