Sex chromosomes are susceptible to the evolution of selfish meiotic drive elements that bias transmission and distort progeny sex ratios. Conflict between such sex-ratio drivers and the rest of the genome can trigger evolutionary arms races resulting in genetically suppressed ‘cryptic’ drive systems. The Winters cryptic sex-ratio drive system of Drosophila simulans comprises a driver, Distorter on the X (Dox) and an autosomal suppressor, Not much yang, a retroduplicate of Dox that suppresses via production of endogenous small interfering RNAs (esiRNAs). Here we report that over 22 Dox-like (Dxl) sequences originated, amplified and diversified over the ~250,000-year history of the three closely related species, D. simulans, D. mauritiana and D. sechellia. The Dxl sequences encode a rapidly evolving family of protamines. Dxl copy numbers amplified by ectopic exchange among euchromatic islands of satellite DNAs on the X chromosome and separately spawned four esiRNA-producing suppressors on the autosomes. Our results reveal the genomic consequences of evolutionary arms races and highlight complex interactions among different classes of selfish DNAs.

性染色体很容易受到自私减数分裂驱动元件进化的影响，这些驱动元件会导致传递偏差并扭曲后代性别比例。这种性别比例驱动因素与基因组其他部分之间的冲突可能会引发进化军备竞赛，导致基因受到抑制的“神秘”驱动系统。模拟果蝇的 Winters 隐性性别比驱动系统包括一个驱动器Distorter on the X ( Dox ) 和一个常染色体抑制子Not much yang ，它是Dox的逆转录复制品，通过产生内源性小干扰 RNA (esiRNA) 进行抑制。在这里，我们报告了超过 22 个Dox样( Dxl ) 序列在三个密切相关的物种（ D. simulans 、 D. mauritiana和D. sechellia）约 25 万年的历史中起源、扩增和多样化。 Dxl序列编码快速进化的鱼精蛋白家族。 Dxl拷贝数通过 X 染色体上卫星 DNA 常染色质岛之间的异位交换而扩增，并在常染色体上分别产生四个产生 esiRNA 的抑制因子。我们的结果揭示了进化军备竞赛的基因组后果，并强调了不同类别自私 DNA 之间复杂的相互作用。