  Theories to explain the prevalence of sex and recombination have long been a
central theme of evolutionary biology. Yet despite decades of attention
dedicated to the evolution of sex and recombination, the widespread pattern of
sex-differences in the recombination rate is not well understood and has
received relatively little theoretical attention. Here, we argue that female
meiotic drivers - alleles that increase in frequency by exploiting the
asymmetric cell division of oogenesis - present a potent selective pressure
favoring the modification of the female recombination rate. Because
recombination plays a central role in shaping patterns of variation within and
among dyads, modifiers of the female recombination rate can function as potent
suppressors or enhancers of female meiotic drive. We show that when female
recombination modifiers are unlinked to female drivers, recombination modifiers
that suppress harmful female drive can spread. By contrast, a recombination
modifier tightly linked to a driver can increase in frequency by enhancing
female drive. Our results predict that rapidly evolving female recombination
rates, particularly around centromeres, should be a common outcome of meiotic
drive. We discuss how selection to modify the efficacy of meiotic drive may
contribute to commonly observed patterns of sex-differences in recombination.
