In Drosophila melanogaster , deletions of the pericentromeric X heterochromatin cause X-Y nondisjunction, reduced male fertility and distorted sperm recovery ratios (meiotic drive) in combination with a normal Y chromosome and interact with Y -autosome translocations ( T(Y;A) ) to cause complete male sterility. The pericentromeric heterochromatin has been shown to contain the male-specific X-Y meiotic pairing sites, which consist mostly of a 240-bp repeated sequence in the intergenic spacers (IGS) of the rDNA repeats. The experiments in this paper address the relationship between X-Y pairing failure and the meiotic drive and sterility effects of Xh deletions. X -linked insertions either of complete rDNA repeats or of rDNA fragments that contain the IGS were found to suppress X-Y nondisjunction and meiotic drive in Xh −/ Y males, and to restore fertility to Xh −/ T(Y;A) males for eight of nine tested Y -autosome translocations. rDNA fragments devoid of IGS repeats proved incapable of suppressing either meiotic drive or chromosomal sterility. These results indicate that the various spermatogenic disruptions associated with X heterochromatic deletions are all consequences of X-Y pairing failure. We interpret these findings in terms of a novel model in which misalignment of chromosomes triggers a checkpoint that acts by disabling the spermatids that derive from affected spermatocytes.
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