Ejaculate sperm number compensation in stalk-eyed flies carrying a selfish meiotic drive element.

ABSTRACT: Meiotic drive genes cause the degeneration of non-carrier sperm to bias transmission in their favour. Males carrying meiotic drive are expected to suffer reduced fertility due to the loss of sperm and associated harmful side-effects of the mechanisms causing segregation distortion. However, sexual selection should promote adaptive compensation to overcome these deleterious effects. We investigate this using SR, an X-linked meiotic drive system in the stalk-eyed fly, Teleopsis dalmanni. Despite sperm destruction caused by drive, we find no evidence that SR males transfer fewer sperm to the female's spermathecae (long-term storage organs). Likewise, migration from the spermathecae to the ventral receptacle for fertilisation is similar for SR and wildtype male sperm, both over short and long

SUBMITTER: Meade LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6781104 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature