Male mice with selfish genetic elements lose out in sperm competition

What is it about?

Selfish genetic elements can spread over evolutionary time, simply by cheating during inheritance. In male mice carrying the t haplotype, t bearing sperm "poison" sperm not bearing the t. As a consequence, they are inherited to the vast majority of the offspring. However, males carrying the t are very bad sperm competitors. Thus, females can avoid the negative consequences of the selfish t by mating with multiple males.

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Why is it important?

Autosomal selfish genetic elements may be widespread but are difficult to detect. Selfish genetic elements often target male sperm production and polyandry may thus represent a common but under appreciated benefit of polyandry in many species.