Robertsonian translocations in man: evidence for prezygotic selection

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Abstract
In the present paper, additional data on the segregation of the three types of Robertsonian translocations which occur in man are considered. In both t(DqGq) and t(DqDq) there is a significant excess of balanced heterozygotes over chromosomally normal progeny among the offspring of male heterozygotes, and this is considered to provide further evidence for some form of prezygotic selection or meiotic drive (defined as the preferential recovery of one or more of the classes of gametes resulting from meiosis in a structural heterozygote) in man, the most likely mechanism being the preferential recovery of certain classes of spermatozoa. There is also a deficiency of unbalanced progeny, and the reasons for this are discussed. The frequency of spontaneous abortions among the progeny of all three translocations is not apparently increased over the frequency generally accepted for the population as a whole.