Reciprocal differences in female recombination associated with hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila Melanogaster

Abstract

Large reciprocal differences in recombination frequencies were observed in F1 female progeny of a number of strain crosses. These reciprocal effects on recombination were found in several intervals of all three major chromosomes; they were greatest in intervals proximal to or spanning the centromere but were also found in some distal regions. The direction of recombination change was not consistent over different chromosomal intervals. There was no clear trend for reciprocal recombination differences to be associated with change of interference values between adjacent intervals. A close association was found between reciprocal female recombination effects, male recombination and other component traits of hybrid dysgenesis. However, reciprocal differences in female recombination were not restricted to dysgenic crosses. Backcross experiments demonstrated that reciprocal differences in the centromeric region of chromosome III were the result of increased crossing-over in dysgenic F1 hybrids rather than decreased crossing-over in the reciprocal hybrids. It is concluded that genotype-cytoplasm interaction can be a major factor influencing recombination frequencies and that the use of interstrain hybrids for recombination measurement may lead to errors in the estimation of intrastrain frequencies. © 1977, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.