Chromosomal Contamination for Male Recombination in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

It has previously been shown that the ability to induce male recombination may be passed from one chromosome to another, not necessarily homologous, chromosome. This phenomenon is investigated, using strains known to interact in the P-M system of hybrid dysgenesis, and is shown to be analogous to the phenomenon of 'chromosomal contamination' in the I-R system of hybrid dysgenesis, in that the passage of properties from one chromosome to another is correlated with other manifestations of dysgenesis. Unlike the I-R system, contamination can occur in males as well as in females in the P-M system, a result which is consistent with other differences between the two systems. The contaminated chromosome acquires only a portion of the dysgenic properties of the original chromosome, and the inheritance is unstable over more than a few generations.