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）是一类可通过操控孟德尔遗传（Mendelian inheritance）的50%分离比以获得自身传递优势的遗传元件，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存在固有难度。然而，携带驱动基因的种群会受到其带来的深远进化影响：目前已知的多数驱动基因会对生物体的配子发育、繁殖与存活产生不利影响。
本研究通过事后分析（post-hoc），在8个家鼠重复选择系中检测到了经典驱动基因t单倍型（t haplotype）的存在；这些家鼠在强制单配制（monandry）或多配制（polyandry）条件下已持续进化20代。此前针对这些选择系的研究表明，在多配制条件下进化的雄性个体，其精子竞争能力有所提升。本研究证实，该进化响应可部分归因于基因驱动（gene drive）。我们发现，携带驱动基因的雄性个体，其精子竞争能力会受到显著损害。据此我们发现，多配制系中的t单倍型频率显著下降，而单配制系中的该频率则维持在稳定的高水平。
本研究首次在脊椎动物中提供了直接实验证据，证明物种的交配系统可在进化相关的时间尺度上，对驱动基因的传播产生重要影响。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可能未被预见的影响。