Effects of marker chromosomes on relative viability

Viability relative to Cy/Pm as a standard was studied in Drosophila melanogaster. One experiment, E1, consisted of progeny from eleven distinct 7 x 7 factorial mating designs with reciprocals for second chromosomes extracted from a natural population. The other experiment, E2, consisted of two distinct sets of heterozygotes with reciprocals and corresponding homozygotes. It was established from E1 that there are little to no synergistic effects among different genotypes in a vial and that Cy and Pm heterozygotes vary almost as much as would be expected if one chromosome were held constant for wild-type heterozygotes. In wild-type heterozygotes, variances were estimated to be 0.0099 for average chromosomal effects, 0.0054 for interactions of chromosomes, 0.0021 for maternal effects, 0.0079 for paternal effects, and -0.0010 for the remaining interaction effects, all being significantly different from zero except the last. The variances of Cy and Pm heterozygotes, covariance of Cy and Pm heterozygotes, and covariances of Cy and Pm heterozygotes with wild-type heterozygotes, as well as the comparable statistics available in E2, all showed a large paternal component of variance and a smaller maternal component of variance, both unexpected results.-From E2 the variance of homozygotes, excluding error variance, was estimated to be 0.0149, and the covariances of homozygotes with wild-type heterozygotes to be 0.0056 for maternally derived chromosomes common and 0.0126 for paternally derived chromosomes common, again showing the larger paternal than maternal influence. The average genetic regression of heterozygotes on homozygotes of 0.61 was reduced only slightly to 0.56 by correcting for maternal and paternal variances. These genetic regressions, generally utilized as estimators of the average degree of dominance, are larger than any previously reported.-Differential meiotic drive in Cy and Pm parents was shown to be compatible with the large paternal and maternal variances, but other causes cannot be ruled out.-Approximations were developed for translating various variances, covariances, and regressions between single- and double-marker experiments, assuming that marker chromosomes behave as typical wild-type chromosomes in one case and assuming a (partially) recessive model with the population in mutation selection balance in another case. Various features, particularly the estimation of dominance, were compared and discussed between the two cases.