Estimating meiotic disjunction frequencies in chicken translocation heterozygotes based on embryonic mortality

Chickens heterozygous for a chromosomal translocation [MN t(1;4)] were intercrossed and the progeny were analyzed for their chromosome complement. A ratio of 1 homozygous translocation carrier to 4 heterozygous translocation carriers to 1 homozygous standard chromosome carrier was noted (n = 520), rather than the 1:2:1 ratio expected from Mendelian segregation. The excess of heterozygous carriers was apparently caused by union of complementary duplication/deficient gametes. Embryonic death occurred in 68% of fertile zygotes. This finding fits very closely to expectations if alternate and adjacent meiotic disjunctions occurred at equal frequencies. As alternate disjunction frequencies increase from 0.5 to 1.0 in inter se matings, the proportion of inviable zygotes among fertilized ova will decrease from 0.625 to 0 and the proportion of translocation heterozygotes among viable progeny will decrease from 0.667 to 0.5. In instances where alternate and adjacent disjunction occur at equal frequency, preferential recovery of translocation carriers will occur. This may contribute to chromosomal diversity within a species, and possibly lead to speciation.