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

ABSTRACT: 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 frequencies determined by the balance between drive (increasing frequency) and selection (decreasing frequency). Here we show that a classic, seemingly balanced, drive system is instead characterized by frequent evolutionary turnover giving rise to dynamic, rather than stable, equilibrium frequencies. The autosomal Segregation Distorter (SD) system of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a selfish coadapted meiotic drive gene complex in which the major driver corresponds to a partial duplication of the gene

SUBMITTER: Brand CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8108122 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature