Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33683360›Full record

ArticleGenetics2021

X-linked meiotic drive can boost population size and persistence.

Carl Mackintosh, Andrew Pomiankowski, Michael F Scott

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Genetics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. A century of theories of balancing selection.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. The metabolic costs of meiotic drive.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Carl MackintoshDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Andrew PomiankowskiDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Michael F ScottDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
University College London · GBUniversity of East Anglia · GB

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/M011585/1Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/P024726/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

X-linked meiotic drivers cause X-bearing sperm to be produced in excess by male carriers, leading to female-biased sex ratios. Here, we find general conditions for the spread and fixation of X-linked alleles. Our conditions show that the spread of X-linked alleles depends on sex-specific selection and transmission rather than the time spent in each sex. Applying this logic to meiotic drive, we show that polymorphism is heavily dependent on sperm competition induced both by female and male mating behavior and the degree of compensation to gamete loss in the ejaculate size of drive males. We extend these evolutionary models to investigate the demographic consequences of biased sex ratios. Our results suggest driving X-alleles that invade and reach polymorphism (or fix and do not bias segregation excessively) will boost population size and persistence time by increasing population productivity, demonstrating the potential for selfish genetic elements to move sex ratios closer to the population-level optimum. However, when the spread of drive causes strong sex-ratio bias, it can lead to populations with so few males that females remain unmated, cannot produce offspring, and go extinct. This outcome is exacerbated when the male mating rate is low. We suggest that researchers should consider the potential for ecologically beneficial side effects of selfish genetic elements, especially in light of proposals to use meiotic drive for biological control.

Indexed as

Evolution, MolecularMeiosisModels, GeneticAnimalsFemaleGenetic FitnessMalePolymorphism, GeneticRepetitive Sequences, Nucleic AcidSex RatioSexual SelectionX Chromosomeeco-evolutionary modellevels of selectionpolyandrysegregation distortionselfish genetic elementssex chromosomesex ratio

Identifiers

PMID33683360
PMCPMC8045712
OpenAlexW3127192846

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.