Data from: Sperm competition suppresses gene drive among experimentally evolving populations of house mice

Drive genes are genetic elements that manipulate the 50% ratio of Mendelian inheritance in their own favour, allowing them to rapidly propagate through populations. The action of drive genes is often hidden, making detection and identification inherently difficult. Yet drive genes can have profound evolutionary consequences for the populations that harbour them: most known drivers are detrimental to organismal gamete development, reproduction and survival. In this study, we identified the presence of a well-known drive gene called t haplotype post-hoc in eight replicate selection lines of house mice that had been evolving under enforced monandry or polyandry for 20 generations. Previous work on these selection lines reported an increase in sperm competitive ability in males evolving under polyandry. Here, we show that this evolutionary response can be partly attributed to gene drive. We demonstrate that drive-carrying males are substantially compromised in their sperm competitive ability. As a consequence, we found that t frequencies declined significantly in the polyandrous lines while remaining at stable, high levels in the monandrous lines. For the first time in a vertebrate, we thus provide direct experimental evidence that the mating system of a species can have important repercussions on the spread of drive genes over evolutionary relevant time scales. Moreover, our work highlights how the covert action of drive genes can have major, potentially unintended impact on our study systems.驱动基因（drive gene）是一类可将自身孟德尔遗传（Mendelian inheritance）的50%分离比向利于自身的方向改造的遗传元件，使其能够在种群中快速扩散。驱动基因的作用通常较为隐蔽，这使得其检测与鉴定本就极具挑战。然而，携带驱动基因的种群会受到其深远的进化效应：目前已知的绝大多数驱动基因均会对生物体的配子发育、繁殖与存活产生不利影响。本研究通过回溯分析，在8个小家鼠（house mice）重复选择系中检测到经典驱动基因t单倍型（t haplotype）的存在；这些选择系在强制单配制（enforced monandry）或多配制（polyandry）条件下已连续进化20代。针对该类选择系的既往研究曾指出，在多配制条件下进化的雄性个体，其精子竞争能力（sperm competitive ability）有所提升。本研究表明，该进化响应可部分归因于基因驱动（gene drive）。我们证实，携带驱动基因的雄性个体，其精子竞争能力会受到显著削弱。由此我们发现，在多配制选择系中，t单倍型的频率显著下降；而在单配制选择系中，其频率则维持在稳定的高水平。这是首次在脊椎动物中获得直接实验证据，证明物种的交配系统可在进化相关时间尺度上，对驱动基因的扩散产生重要影响。此外，本研究还揭示了驱动基因的隐蔽作用，可对研究体系产生重大且潜在未被预期的影响。