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Review
. 2014 Dec 18;7(2):a017616.
doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a017616.

Sex chromosome drive

Quentin Helleu  1 , Pierre R Gérard  1 , Catherine Montchamp-Moreau  1
Affiliations
Review

Sex chromosome drive

Quentin Helleu et al. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. .

Abstract

Sex chromosome drivers are selfish elements that subvert Mendel's first law of segregation and therefore are overrepresented among the products of meiosis. The sex-biased progeny produced then fuels an extended genetic conflict between the driver and the rest of the genome. Many examples of sex chromosome drive are known, but the occurrence of this phenomenon is probably largely underestimated because of the difficulty to detect it. Remarkably, nearly all sex chromosome drivers are found in two clades, Rodentia and Diptera. Although very little is known about the molecular and cellular mechanisms of drive, epigenetic processes such as chromatin regulation could be involved in many instances. Yet, its evolutionary consequences are far-reaching, from the evolution of mating systems and sex determination to the emergence of new species.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Spermatogenesis stages at which cellular phenotypes of sex chromosome drive are observed.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Model for the evolution of X-chromosome drive, with examples from Drosophila. The evolution can cease by population extinction or the system can stay at a stable polymorphism (without suppressors [e.g., in D. pseudoobscura] or with suppressors [e.g., in Drosophila mediopunctata]). The only driver found to cycle in natural populations is the young Paris system of D. simulans: the driver is currently disappearing in the Indian Ocean (Madagascar, Mayotte) where complete suppression has evolved (Bastide et al. 2011) but is increasing in frequency along with suppressors in the Middle East (e.g., in Egypt) (Bastide et al. 2013).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
(A) Evolution of Slx/Sly copy number in some lineages of the genus Mus. (Reprinted from Good 2012 under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium.) (B) Deficiency in the number of Sly copies compared to Slx copies could contribute to F1 male hybrid sterility in crosses between M.m. musculus females and M.m. domesticus males (Published courtesy of Julie Cocquet.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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