Do males matter? Testing the effects of male genetic background on female meiotic crossover rates in Drosophila melanogaster

Meiotic recombination is a critical genetic process as well as a pivotal evolutionary force. Rates of crossing-over are highly variable within and between species, due to both genetic and environmental factors. Early studies in Drosophila implicated female genetic background as a major determinant of crossover rate and recent work has highlighted male genetic background as a possible mediator as well. Our study employed classical genetics to address how female and male genetic backgrounds individually and jointly affect crossover rates. We measured rates of crossing over in a 33 cM region of the Drosophila melanogaster X chromosome using a two-step crossing scheme exploiting visible markers. In total, we measured crossover rates of 10 inbred lines in a full diallel cross. Our experimental design facilitates measuring the contributions of female genetic background, male genetic background, and female × male genetic background interaction effects on rates of crossing-over in females. Our ...