Male-mediated effects on female meiotic recombination

Recombination rates vary owing to an individual’s genetic composition and/or its environmental condition. Yet, the effects of mating partner on recombination rates have not been considered. Here, I document a previously undescribed male-mediated effect on female recombination rates. After crossing females to males from different genetic backgrounds, I observed a significant difference in proportion of recombinant offspring based on the genetic background of the father (p=0.0292; 3 df; F=3.07). Genetic variation in male ability to affect recombination rate in their mates suggests the potential for sexual conflict on optimal proportion of recombinant offspring, perhaps leading to changes in population-level recombination rates with varying levels of sexual selection.

重组率（recombination rate）会因个体的遗传组成（genetic composition）与环境条件发生变化。然而，交配伴侣对重组率的影响此前尚未被纳入研究考量范畴。本研究报道了一种此前未被阐明的雄性介导效应，该效应可对雌性的重组率产生调控作用。将雌性与不同遗传背景的雄性进行杂交后，本研究观察到重组后代（recombinant offspring）的比例存在显著差异，且该差异与父本的遗传背景密切相关（p=0.0292；自由度df=3；F统计量=3.07）。雄性影响其配偶重组率的能力存在遗传变异，这表明在重组后代的最优比例上可能存在性冲突（sexual conflict），该冲突或随性选择（sexual selection）强度的变化，进而改变种群水平的重组率。