Germ line aberrations associated with a case of hybrid dysgenesis inDrosophila melanogastermales

Abstract

SUMMARYMale sterility, male recombination, and transmission ratio distortion – all examples of a syndrome known as hybrid dysgenesis inDrosophila melanogaster– were found to involve chromosome–cytoplasm interactions. The latter two have temperature optima near 25° and involve pre-meiotic events. In addition, sex ratio distortion, and induction of certain translocations of theXandYchromosomes (but not the autosomes) were found to be part of hybrid dysgenesis. Both are caused by chromosome–cytoplasm interactions with pre-meiotic events playing a crucial role. The results agree with previous data on female sterility in hybrid dysgenesis, which also has cytoplasmic components and premeiotic origins.