Complementation analysis of male fertility among the segregation distorter chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster.

The fecundities of 55 genotypes of the form SD(i)/SD(j) generated by 11 different SD chromosomes have been examined. Five of the genotypes are lethal The fecundities of the rest fall into a pattern of fertility and sterility that is highly suggestive of intracistronic complementation. The complementation leading to male fertility is only partial complementation: the fecundity of most fertile genotypes is less than half that of controls. The three components of the SD system, the Sd locus, the Ac locus, and the modifiers in 2R, were examined separately, and it appears that the complementation is a phenomenon associated with the Sd locus. A hypothesis of the molecular events involved in segregation distortion is formulated in the light of these observations. The model is based on the assumption that the Sd locus produces a multimeric molecule that regulates the activity of the Ac(=Rsp) locus during spermatogenesis.