XY sex-determination system: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Method of determining sex}} |
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[[File:Drosophila XY sex-determination.svg|thumb|200px|Drosophila sex-chromosomes]] |
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[[File:Ginkgo biloba MacAbee BC.jpg|thumb|right|199px|''Ginkgo biloba'']] |
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{{Sex (biology) sidebar}} |
{{Sex (biology) sidebar}} |
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[[File:Drosophila XY sex-determination.svg|thumb|200px|''Drosophila'' sex-chromosomes]] |
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The '''XY sex-determination system''' is the [[sex-determination system]] found in [[human]]s, most other [[mammal]]s, some insects (''[[Drosophila]]''), and some plants (''[[Ginkgo]]''). In this system, the [[sex]] of an individual is determined by a pair of '''sex chromosomes''' ('''gonosomes'''). Females have two of the same kind of sex [[chromosome]] (XX), and are called the [[homogametic sex]]. Males have two distinct sex chromosomes (XY), and are called the [[heterogametic sex]]. |
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|image1 = Ginkgo biloba male flower.jpg |
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|caption1 = Pollen cones of a male ''[[Ginkgo biloba]]'' tree, a [[Dioecy#In botany|dioecious]] species |
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|image2 = Ginkgo biloba female flower.jpg |
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|caption2 = Ovules of a female ''Ginkgo biloba'' |
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}} |
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The '''XY sex-determination system''' is a [[sex-determination system]] present in many [[mammal]]s, including [[human]]s, some insects (''[[Drosophila]]''), some snakes, some fish ([[guppy|guppies]]), and some plants (''[[Ginkgo]]'' tree). |
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In this system, the [[sex]] of an individual usually is determined by a pair of [[Allosome|sex chromosomes]]. Typically, females have two of the same kind of sex chromosome (XX), and are called the '''homogametic sex'''. Males typically have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (XY), and are called the '''heterogametic sex'''.<ref name="Hake-2014">{{Cite journal | vauthors = Hake L, O'Connor C | date = 2008 | title = Genetic Mechanisms of Sex Determination | journal = Nature Education | volume = 1 |issue = 1 | pages = 25 | url = https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-mechanisms-of-sex-determination-314/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428022557/https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-mechanisms-of-sex-determination-314/ |archive-date=2021-04-28 | series = Learn Science at Scitable }}</ref> In humans, the presence of the Y chromosome is responsible for triggering male development; in the absence of the Y chromosome, the fetus will undergo female development, except with various exceptions such as individuals with [[XY gonadal dysgenesis|Swyer syndrome]], that have XY chromosomes and a female phenotype, and [[XX male syndrome|de la Chapelle Syndrome]], that have XX chromosomes and a male phenotype, however these exceptions are rare. In some instances, a seemingly normal female with a vagina, cervix, and ovaries has XY chromosomes, but the [[SRY]] gene has been shut down.<ref>{{Cite web| vauthors = Callaway E |title=Girl with Y chromosome sheds light on maleness|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16934-girl-with-y-chromosome-sheds-light-on-maleness/ |date=9 April 2009 |access-date=2023-02-22|website=New Scientist|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Biason-Lauber A, Konrad D, Meyer M, DeBeaufort C, Schoenle EJ | title = Ovaries and female phenotype in a girl with 46,XY karyotype and mutations in the CBX2 gene | journal = American Journal of Human Genetics | volume = 84 | issue = 5 | pages = 658–663 | date = May 2009 | pmid = 19361780 | pmc = 2680992 | doi = 10.1016/j.ajhg.2009.03.016 }}</ref> In most species with XY sex determination, an organism must have at least one [[X chromosome]] in order to survive.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Can a Zygote Survive Without an X Sex Chromosome?|url=https://education.seattlepi.com/can-zygote-survive-x-sex-chromosome-4599.html | vauthors = Sherwood S |access-date=2020-11-08|website=Education - Seattle PI|date=16 January 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| vauthors = Sherwood S |title=What Occurs When the Zygote Has One Fewer Chromosome than Usual?|url=https://sciencing.com/occurs-zygote-one-fewer-chromosome-usual-17818.html |date=April 25, 2017 |access-date=2021-04-29|website=Sciencing|language=en}}</ref> |
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This system is in contrast with the [[ZW sex-determination system]] found in [[birds]], some insects, many [[reptile]]s, and other animals, in which the heterogametic sex is female. |
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The XY system contrasts in several ways with the [[ZW sex-determination system]] found in [[birds]], some insects, many [[reptile]]s, and various other animals, in which the heterogametic sex is female. |
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A [[temperature-dependent sex determination]] system is found in some reptiles. |
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A [[temperature-dependent sex determination]] system is found in some reptiles and fish. |
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== Mechanisms == |
== Mechanisms == |
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All [[animal]]s have a set of [[DNA]] coding for [[gene]]s present on [[chromosome]]s. In humans, most mammals, and some other species |
All [[animal]]s have a set of [[DNA]] coding for [[gene]]s present on [[chromosome]]s. In humans, most mammals, and some other species, two of the [[chromosome]]s, called the [[X chromosome]] and [[Y chromosome]], code for sex. In these species, one or more [[gene]]s are present on their [[Y chromosome]] that determine maleness. In this process, an [[X chromosome]] and a [[Y chromosome]] act to determine the sex of offspring, often due to genes located on the Y chromosome that code for maleness. Offspring have two sex chromosomes: an offspring with two X chromosomes (XX) will develop female characteristics, and an offspring with an X and a Y chromosome (XY) will develop male characteristics. |
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=== |
=== Mammals === |
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In most mammals, sex is determined by presence of the Y chromosome. This makes individuals with [[Klinefelter syndrome|XXY]] and [[XYY syndrome|XYY]] karyotypes males, and individuals with [[Turner syndrome|X]] and [[Trisomy X|XXX]] karyotypes females.<ref name="Hake-2014" /> |
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[[File:Human male karyotpe high resolution - XY chromosome cropped.JPG|thumb|199px|Human male XY chromosomes after [[G-banding]]]] |
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In humans, a single gene (''[[SRY]]'') present on the Y chromosome acts as a signal to set the developmental pathway towards maleness. Presence of this gene starts off the process of [[virilization]]. This and other factors result in the [[sex differences in humans]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title = Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine|last = Fauci|first = Anthony S.|publisher = McGraw-Hill Medical|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-07-147693-5|location = |pages = 2339–2346|edition = 17th|last2 = Braunwald|first2 = Eugene|last3 = Kasper|first3 = Dennis L.|last4 = Hauser|first4 = Stephen L.|last5 = Longo|first5 = Dan L.|last6 = Jameson|first6 = J. Larry|last7 = Loscalzo|first7 = Joseph}}</ref> The cells in females, with two X chromosomes, undergo [[X-inactivation]], in which one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated. The inactivated X chromosome remains within a cell as a [[Barr body]]. |
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In the 1930s, [[Alfred Jost]] determined that the presence of [[testosterone]] was required for [[Wolffian duct]] development in the male rabbit.<ref name="Jost-1970">{{cite journal | vauthors = Jost A | title = Hormonal factors in the sex differentiation of the mammalian foetus | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences | volume = 259 | issue = 828 | pages = 119–130 | date = August 1970 | pmid = 4399057 | doi = 10.1098/rstb.1970.0052 | bibcode = 1970RSPTB.259..119J | doi-access = free | jstor = 2417046 }}</ref> |
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Humans, as well as some other organisms, can have a chromosomal arrangement that is contrary to their phenotypic sex; for example, [[XX male syndrome|XX males]] or XY females (see [[androgen insensitivity syndrome]]). Additionally, an abnormal number of sex chromosomes ([[aneuploidy]]) may be present, such as [[Turner's syndrome]], in which a single X chromosome is present, and [[Klinefelter's syndrome]], in which two X chromosomes and a Y chromosome are present, [[XYY syndrome]] and [[XXYY syndrome]].<ref name=":0" /> Other less common chromosomal arrangements include: [[triple X syndrome]], [[48, XXXX]], and [[49, XXXXX]]. |
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SRY is a sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome in the [[theria]]ns (placental mammals and marsupials).<ref name="Wallis-2008">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wallis MC, Waters PD, Graves JA | title = Sex determination in mammals--before and after the evolution of SRY | journal = Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences | volume = 65 | issue = 20 | pages = 3182–3195 | date = October 2008 | pmid = 18581056 | pmc = 11131626 | doi = 10.1007/s00018-008-8109-z | s2cid = 31675679 }}</ref> Non-human mammals use several genes on the Y chromosome.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021|reason=Your explanation here}} |
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Not all male-specific genes are located on the [[Y chromosome]]. The [[platypus]], a [[monotreme]], use five pairs of different XY chromosomes with six groups of male-linked genes, [[Anti-Müllerian hormone|AMH]] being the master switch.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cortez D, Marin R, Toledo-Flores D, Froidevaux L, Liechti A, Waters PD, Grützner F, Kaessmann H | title = Origins and functional evolution of Y chromosomes across mammals | journal = Nature | volume = 508 | issue = 7497 | pages = 488–493 | date = April 2014 | pmid = 24759410 | doi = 10.1038/nature13151 | url = https://odin.mdacc.tmc.edu/~ryu/materials/papers/nature2014April_EvolutionYChrom.pdf | url-status = live | bibcode = 2014Natur.508..488C | s2cid = 4462870 | s2cid-access = free | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170810203303/http://odin.mdacc.tmc.edu/~ryu/materials/papers/nature2014April_EvolutionYChrom.pdf | archive-date = Aug 10, 2017 }}</ref> |
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====Humans==== |
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[[File:Human male karyotpe high resolution - XY chromosome cropped.JPG|thumb|199px|Human male XY chromosomes after [[G-banding]]]] |
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A single gene (''[[SRY]]'') present on the Y chromosome acts as a signal to set the developmental pathway towards maleness. Presence of this gene starts off the process of [[virilization]]. This and other factors result in the [[sex differences in humans]].<ref name="Fauci-2008">{{Cite book|title = Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine|url = https://archive.org/details/harrisonsprincip00asfa|url-access = limited| vauthors = Fauci AS, Braunwald E, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Longo DL, Jameson JL, Loscalzo J |publisher = McGraw-Hill Medical|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-07-147693-5|pages = [https://archive.org/details/harrisonsprincip00asfa/page/n2377 2339]–2346 |edition = 17th }}</ref> The cells in females, with two X chromosomes, undergo [[X-inactivation]], in which one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated. The inactivated X chromosome remains within a cell as a [[Barr body]]. |
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===Other animals=== |
===Other animals=== |
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Some species of [[turtle]]s have convergently evolved XY sex determination systems, specifically those in [[Chelidae]] and [[Staurotypinae]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Badenhorst D, Stanyon R, Engstrom T, Valenzuela N | title = A ZZ/ZW microchromosome system in the spiny softshell turtle, Apalone spinifera, reveals an intriguing sex chromosome conservation in Trionychidae | journal = Chromosome Research | volume = 21 | issue = 2 | pages = 137–147 | date = April 2013 | pmid = 23512312 | doi = 10.1007/s10577-013-9343-2 | s2cid = 14434440 }}</ref> |
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XY system in mammals: Sex is determined by presence of Y. "Female" is the default sex; due to the absence of the Y.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sex determination and differentiation|url=http://www.bio.uu.nl/endocrinology/teaching/Sex%20Determinatie.pdf|website=Utrecht University - Department of Biology|accessdate=13 November 2014|location=Ultrecht, Netherlands|format=PDF}}</ref> In the 1930s, [[Alfred Jost]] determined that the presence of [[testosterone]] was required for [[Wolffian duct]] development in the male rabbit.<ref name="Jost">{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rstb.1970.0052 |jstor=2417046 |title=Hormonal Factors in the Sex Differentiation of the Mammalian Foetus [and Discussion] |year=1970 |last1=Jost |first1=A. |last2=Price |first2=D. |last3=Edwards |first3=R. G. |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=259 |issue=828 |pages=119–31}}</ref> |
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Other species (including most ''[[Drosophila]]'' species) use the presence of two X chromosomes to determine femaleness: one X chromosome gives putative maleness, but the presence of Y chromosome genes is required for normal male development. In the fruit fly individuals with XY are male and individuals with XX are female; however, individuals with XXY or XXX can also be female, and individuals with X can be males.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKGsDwAAQBAJ|title=The Biology of Reproduction|vauthors=Fusco G, Minelli A|date=2019-10-10|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-49985-9|pages=306–308|author-link2=Alessandro Minelli (biologist)}}</ref> |
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SRY is an [[intron]]less sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome in the [[theria]]ns (placental mammals and marsupials).<ref name="pmid18581056">{{cite journal | author = Wallis MC, Waters PD, Graves JA | title = Sex determination in mammals - Before and after the evolution of SRY | journal = Cell. Mol. Life Sci. | volume = 65| issue = 20| pages = 3182–95|date=June 2008 | pmid = 18581056 | doi = 10.1007/s00018-008-8109-z | last2 = Waters | last3 = Graves }}</ref> Non-human mammals use several genes on the Y-chromosome. Not all male-specific genes are located on the Y-chromosome. Other species (including most ''[[Drosophila]]'' species) use the presence of two X chromosomes to determine femaleness. One X chromosome gives putative maleness. The presence of Y-chromosome genes is required for normal male development. |
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=== Plants === |
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==== Angiosperms ==== |
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While very few species of [[Dioecy|dioecious]] [[Flowering plant|angiosperm]] have XY sex determination, making up less than 5% of all species, the sheer diversity of angiosperms means that the total number of species with XY sex determination is actually quite high, estimated to be at around 13,000 species. Molecular and evolutionary studies also show that XY sex determination has evolved independently many times in upwards of 175 unique families, with a recent study suggesting its evolution has independently occurred hundreds to thousands of times.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Leite Montalvão |first1=Ana Paula |last2=Kersten |first2=Birgit |last3=Fladung |first3=Matthias |last4=Müller |first4=Niels Andreas |date=2021-01-15 |title=The Diversity and Dynamics of Sex Determination in Dioecious Plants |journal=Frontiers in Plant Science |language=English |volume=11 |doi=10.3389/fpls.2020.580488 |doi-access=free |pmid=33519840 |pmc=7843427 |issn=1664-462X}}</ref> |
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Many economically important crops are known to have an XY system of sex determination, including kiwifruit,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Akagi |first1=Takashi |last2=Pilkington |first2=Sarah M. |last3=Varkonyi-Gasic |first3=Erika |last4=Henry |first4=Isabelle M. |last5=Sugano |first5=Shigeo S. |last6=Sonoda |first6=Minori |last7=Firl |first7=Alana |last8=McNeilage |first8=Mark A. |last9=Douglas |first9=Mikaela J. |last10=Wang |first10=Tianchi |last11=Rebstock |first11=Ria |last12=Voogd |first12=Charlotte |last13=Datson |first13=Paul |last14=Allan |first14=Andrew C. |last15=Beppu |first15=Kenji |date=August 2019 |title=Two Y-chromosome-encoded genes determine sex in kiwifruit |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-019-0489-6 |journal=Nature Plants |language=en |volume=5 |issue=8 |pages=801–809 |doi=10.1038/s41477-019-0489-6 |pmid=31383971 |bibcode=2019NatPl...5..801A |issn=2055-0278}}</ref> asparagus,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Harkess |first1=Alex |last2=Huang |first2=Kun |last3=van der Hulst |first3=Ron |last4=Tissen |first4=Bart |last5=Caplan |first5=Jeffrey L. |last6=Koppula |first6=Aakash |last7=Batish |first7=Mona |last8=Meyers |first8=Blake C. |last9=Leebens-Mack |first9=Jim |date=June 2020 |title=Sex Determination by Two Y-Linked Genes in Garden Asparagus |journal=The Plant Cell |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=1790–1796 |doi=10.1105/tpc.19.00859 |issn=1532-298X |pmc=7268802 |pmid=32220850}}</ref> grapes<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Picq |first1=Sandrine |last2=Santoni |first2=Sylvain |last3=Lacombe |first3=Thierry |last4=Latreille |first4=Muriel |last5=Weber |first5=Audrey |last6=Ardisson |first6=Morgane |last7=Ivorra |first7=Sarah |last8=Maghradze |first8=David |last9=Arroyo-Garcia |first9=Rosa |last10=Chatelet |first10=Philippe |last11=This |first11=Patrice |last12=Terral |first12=Jean-Frédéric |last13=Bacilieri |first13=Roberto |date=2014-09-03 |title=A small XY chromosomal region explains sex determination in wild dioecious V. vinifera and the reversal to hermaphroditism in domesticated grapevines |journal=BMC Plant Biology |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=229 |doi=10.1186/s12870-014-0229-z |doi-access=free |issn=1471-2229 |pmc=4167142 |pmid=25179565}}</ref> and date palms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Intha |first1=Noppharat |last2=Chaiprasart |first2=Peerasak |date=2018-06-16 |title=Sex determination in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) by PCR based marker analysis |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304423818302073 |journal=Scientia Horticulturae |volume=236 |pages=251–255 |doi=10.1016/j.scienta.2018.03.039 |bibcode=2018ScHor.236..251I |issn=0304-4238}}</ref> |
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==== Gymnosperms ==== |
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In sharp contrast to angiosperms, approximately 65% of [[Gymnosperm|gymnosperms]] are dioecious. Some families which contain members that are known to have a XY system of sex determination include the cycad families [[Cycas|Cycadaceae]] and [[Zamiaceae]], [[Ginkgoaceae]], [[Gnetum|Gnetaceae]] and [[Podocarpaceae]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ohri |first1=Deepak |last2=Rastogi |first2=Shubhi |date=2020-04-01 |title=Sex determination in gymnosperms |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13237-019-00297-w/tables/1 |journal=The Nucleus |language=en |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=75–80 |doi=10.1007/s13237-019-00297-w |issn=0976-7975}}</ref> |
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===Other systems=== |
===Other systems=== |
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{{Main|Sex determination system}} |
{{Main|Sex determination system}} |
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Whilst XY sex determination is the most familiar, since it is the system that humans use, there are a range of alternative systems found in nature. The inverse of the XY system (called ''[[ZW sex-determination system|ZW]]'' to distinguish it) is used in birds and many insects, in which it is the females that are heterogametic (ZW), while males are homogametic (ZZ).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Smith CA, Sinclair AH | title = Sex determination: insights from the chicken | journal = BioEssays | volume = 26 | issue = 2 | pages = 120–132 | date = February 2004 | pmid = 14745830 | doi = 10.1002/bies.10400 | doi-access = free }}</ref> |
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Many insects of the order [[Hymenoptera]] instead have a |
Many insects of the order [[Hymenoptera]] instead have a [[haplo-diploid sex-determination system|''haplo-diploid'' system]], where the females are full [[diploid|diploids]] (with all chromosomes appearing in pairs) but males are [[haploid]] (having just one copy of all chromosomes). Some other insects have the ''[[X0 sex-determination system]]'', where just the sex-determining chromosome varies in ploidy (XX in females but X in males), while all other chromosomes appear in pairs in both sexes.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Lee C |url=https://genetics.knoji.com/5-types-of-sex-determination-in-animals/|title=5 Types of Sex Determination in Animals| work = Knoji Consumer Knowledge |access-date=3 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205101323/https://genetics.knoji.com/5-types-of-sex-determination-in-animals/|archive-date=5 February 2017}}</ref> |
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==Influences== |
==Influences== |
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===Genetic=== |
===Genetic=== |
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[[File:PBB Protein SRY image.jpg|right|thumb|PBB Protein SRY image]] |
[[File:PBB Protein SRY image.jpg|right|thumb|PBB Protein SRY image]] |
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In an interview for the ''Rediscovering Biology'' website,<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Vilain E | date = | title = Rediscovering Biology, Unit 11 - Biology of Sex and Gender, Expert interview transcripts | url = http://www.learner.org/courses/biology/units/gender/experts/vilain.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100823063603/http://www.learner.org/courses/biology/units/gender/experts/vilain.html | archive-date=2010-08-23 | publisher = Annenberg Media }}</ref> researcher [[Eric Vilain]] described how the paradigm changed since the discovery of the SRY gene: |
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For a long time, biologists believed that the female form was the default template for the mammalian fetuses of both sexes. After the discovery of the [[Testis determining factor|testis-determining gene SRY]], many scientists shifted to the theory that the genetic mechanism that determines a fetus to develop into a male form was initiated by the SRY gene, which was thought to be responsible for the production of [[testosterone]] and its overall effects on body and brain development. This perspective still shared the classical way of thinking; that in order to produce two sexes, nature has developed a default female pathway and an active pathway by which male genes would initiate the process of determining a male sex, as something that is developed in addition to and based on the default female form. This view is no longer considered accurate by most scientists who study the genetics of sex. In an interview for the ''Rediscovering Biology'' website,<ref>Rediscovering Biology, Unit 11 - Biology of Sex and Gender, Expert interview transcripts, [http://www.learner.org/courses/biology/units/gender/experts/vilain.html Link]</ref> researcher Eric Vilain described how the paradigm changed since the discovery of the SRY gene: |
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{{ |
{{Blockquote|text=For a long time we thought that SRY would activate a cascade of male genes. It turns out that the sex determination pathway is probably more complicated and SRY may in fact inhibit some anti-male genes. |
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The idea is instead of having a simplistic mechanism by which you have pro-male genes going all the way to make a male, in fact there is a solid balance between pro-male genes and anti-male genes and if there is a little too much of anti-male genes, there may be a female born and if there is a little too much of pro-male genes then there will be a male born. |
The idea is instead of having a simplistic mechanism by which you have pro-male genes going all the way to make a male, in fact there is a solid balance between pro-male genes and anti-male genes and if there is a little too much of anti-male genes, there may be a female born and if there is a little too much of pro-male genes then there will be a male born. |
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We [are] entering this new era in molecular biology of sex determination where it's a more subtle dosage of genes, some pro-males, some pro-females, some anti-males, some anti-females that all interplay with each other rather than a simple linear pathway of genes going one after the other, which makes it very fascinating but very complicated to study.}} |
We [are] entering this new era in molecular biology of sex determination where it's a more subtle dosage of genes, some pro-males, some pro-females, some anti-males, some anti-females that all interplay with each other rather than a simple linear pathway of genes going one after the other, which makes it very fascinating but very complicated to study.}} |
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In an interview by ''[[Scientific American]]'' in 2007, Vilian was asked: "It sounds as if you are describing a shift from the prevailing view that female development is a default molecular pathway to active pro-male and antimale pathways. Are there also pro-female and antifemale pathways?"<ref>{{Cite web| vauthors = Lehrman S |title=When a Person Is Neither XX nor XY: A Q&A with Geneticist Eric Vilain|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/q-a-mixed-sex-biology/|access-date=2021-08-08|website=Scientific American|language=en}}</ref> He replied: |
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In mammals, including humans, the SRY gene is responsible with triggering the development of non-differentiated [[gonads]] into testes, rather than [[ovaries]]. However, there are cases in which testes can develop in the absence of an SRY gene (see [[sex reversal]]). In these cases, the [[SOX9]] gene, involved in the development of testes, can induce their development without the aid of SRY. In the absence of SRY and SOX9, no testes can develop and the path is clear for the development of ovaries. Even so, the absence of the SRY gene or the silencing of the SOX9 gene are not enough to trigger sexual differentiation of a fetus in the female direction. A recent finding indicates that ovary development and maintenance is an active process,<ref> |
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{{cite journal |
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| last = Uhlenhaut | first = N. Henriette |
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| year = 2009 |
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| title = Somatic Sex Reprogramming of Adult Ovaries to Testes by FOXL2 Ablation |
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| journal = Cell |
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| volume=139 | issue=6 | pages=1130–42 |
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| doi = 10.1016/j.cell.2009.11.021 |
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| pmid=20005806 |
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|display-authors=etal}}</ref> regulated by the expression of a "pro-female" gene, [[FOXL2]]. In an interview<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/genetics/article6952050.ece Scientists find single ‘on-off’ gene that can change gender traits], Hannah Devlin, The Times, December 11, 2009.</ref> for the ''TimesOnline'' edition, study co-author Robin Lovell-Badge explained the significance of the discovery: |
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{{Quote|text=We take it for granted that we maintain the sex we are born with, including whether we have testes or ovaries. But this work shows that the activity of a single gene, FOXL2, is all that prevents adult ovary cells turning into cells found in testes.}} |
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{{Blockquote|text=Modern sex determination started at the end of the 1940s—1947—when the French physiologist Alfred Jost said it's the testis that is determining sex. Having a testis determines maleness, not having a testis determines femaleness. The ovary is not sex-determining. It will not influence the development of the external genitalia. Now in 1959 when the karyotype of [[Klinefelter syndrome|Klinefelter]] [a male who is XXY] and [[Turner syndrome|Turner]] [a female who has one X] syndromes was discovered, it became clear that in humans it was the presence or the absence of the Y chromosome that's sex determining. Because all Klinefelters that have a Y are male, whereas Turners, who have no Y, are females. So it's not a dosage or the number of X's, it's really the presence or absence of the Y. So if you combine those two paradigms, you end up having a molecular basis that's likely to be a factor, a gene, that's a testis-determining factor, and that's the sex-determining gene. So the field based on that is really oriented towards finding testis-determining factors. What we discovered, though, was not just pro-testis determining factors. There are a number of factors that are there, like WNT4, like DAX1, whose function is to counterbalance the male pathway.}} |
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==== Implications ==== |
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In mammals, including humans, the SRY gene triggers the development of non-differentiated [[gonads]] into testes rather than [[ovaries]]. However, there are cases in which testes can develop in the absence of an SRY gene (see [[sex reversal]]). In these cases, the [[SOX9]] gene, involved in the development of testes, can induce their development without the aid of SRY. In the absence of SRY and SOX9, no testes can develop and the path is clear for the development of ovaries. Even so, the absence of the SRY gene or the silencing of the SOX9 gene are not enough to trigger sexual differentiation of a fetus in the female direction. A recent finding suggests that ovary development and maintenance is an active process,<ref> |
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{{cite journal | vauthors = Uhlenhaut NH, Jakob S, Anlag K, Eisenberger T, Sekido R, Kress J, Treier AC, Klugmann C, Klasen C, Holter NI, Riethmacher D, Schütz G, Cooney AJ, Lovell-Badge R, Treier M | title = Somatic sex reprogramming of adult ovaries to testes by FOXL2 ablation | journal = Cell | volume = 139 | issue = 6 | pages = 1130–1142 | date = December 2009 | pmid = 20005806 | doi = 10.1016/j.cell.2009.11.021 | doi-access = free }}</ref> regulated by the expression of a "pro-female" gene, [[FOXL2]]. In an interview<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/genetics/article6952050.ece | title = Scientists find single 'on-off' gene that can change gender traits | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110814125506/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/genetics/article6952050.ece | archive-date=2011-08-14 | vauthors = Devlin H | work = The Times | date = December 11, 2009 }}</ref> for the ''TimesOnline'' edition, study co-author Robin Lovell-Badge explained the significance of the discovery: |
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{{Blockquote|text=We take it for granted that we maintain the sex we are born with, including whether we have testes or ovaries. But this work shows that the activity of a single gene, FOXL2, is all that prevents adult ovary cells turning into cells found in testes.}} |
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==== Implications ==== |
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Looking into the genetic determinants of human sex can have wide-ranging consequences. Scientists have been studying different sex determination systems in [[Drosophila melanogaster|fruit flies]] and animal models to attempt an understanding of how the genetics of sexual differentiation can influence biological processes like reproduction, ageing<ref> |
Looking into the genetic determinants of human sex can have wide-ranging consequences. Scientists have been studying different sex determination systems in [[Drosophila melanogaster|fruit flies]] and animal models to attempt an understanding of how the genetics of sexual differentiation can influence biological processes like reproduction, ageing<ref> |
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{{cite journal | vauthors = Tower J, Arbeitman M | title = The genetics of gender and life span | journal = Journal of Biology | volume = 8 | issue = 4 | pages = 38 | year = 2009 | pmid = 19439039 | pmc = 2688912 | doi = 10.1186/jbiol141 | doi-access = free }}</ref> and disease. |
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{{cite journal |
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| last = Tower | first = John |
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|author2=Arbeitman, Michelle |
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| year = 2009 |
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| title = The genetics of gender and life span |
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| journal = Journal of Biology |
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| volume=8 |pages=38 |
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| doi = 10.1186/jbiol141 |
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| pmid = 19439039 |
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| issue = 4 |
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| pmc = 2688912 |
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}}</ref> and disease. |
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===Maternal=== |
===Maternal=== |
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In humans and many other species of animals, the [[father]] determines the [[sex]] of the child. In the XY sex-determination system, the female-provided [[ovum]] contributes an X [[chromosome]] and the male-provided [[sperm]] contributes either an X chromosome or a Y chromosome, resulting in female (XX) or male (XY) offspring, respectively. |
In humans and many other species of animals, the [[father]] determines the [[sex]] of the child. In the XY sex-determination system, the female-provided [[ovum]] contributes an X [[chromosome]] and the male-provided [[sperm]] contributes either an X chromosome or a Y chromosome, resulting in female (XX) or male (XY) offspring, respectively. |
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Hormone levels in the male parent affect the sex ratio of sperm in humans.<ref name=Krackow/> Maternal influences also impact which sperm are more likely to achieve [[fertilisation|conception]]. |
Hormone levels in the male parent affect the sex ratio of sperm in humans.<ref name="Krackow-1995"/> Maternal influences also impact which sperm are more likely to achieve [[fertilisation|conception]]. |
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Human ova, like those of other mammals, are covered with a thick translucent layer called the [[zona pellucida]], which the sperm must penetrate to fertilize the egg. Once viewed simply as an impediment to [[fertilization]], recent research indicates the zona pellucida may instead function as a sophisticated biological security system that chemically controls the entry of the sperm into the egg and protects the fertilized egg from additional sperm.<ref> |
Human ova, like those of other mammals, are covered with a thick translucent layer called the [[zona pellucida]], which the sperm must penetrate to fertilize the egg. Once viewed simply as an impediment to [[fertilization]], recent research indicates the zona pellucida may instead function as a sophisticated biological security system that chemically controls the entry of the sperm into the egg and protects the fertilized egg from additional sperm.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Wymelenberg S | chapter = Infertility | title = Science and Babies | publisher = National Academy Press | date = 1990 | page = 17 | isbn = 978-0-309-04136-2 }}</ref> |
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Recent research indicates that human ova may produce a chemical which appears to attract sperm and influence their swimming motion. However, not all sperm are positively impacted; some appear to remain uninfluenced and some actually move away from the egg.<ref> |
Recent research indicates that human ova may produce a chemical which appears to attract sperm and influence their swimming motion. However, not all sperm are positively impacted; some appear to remain uninfluenced and some actually move away from the egg.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Jones RE, Lopez KH | title = Human Reproductive Biology | edition = Third | publisher = Elsevier | date = 2006 | page = 238 | isbn = 978-0-12-088465-0 }}</ref> |
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Maternal influences may also be possible that affect sex determination in such a way as to produce [[fraternal twins]] equally weighted between one male and one female.<ref> |
Maternal influences may also be possible that affect sex determination in such a way as to produce [[fraternal twins]] equally weighted between one male and one female.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Johnson BH | url = http://home.comcast.net/~brucehjohnson/bgtwins.pdf | title = Familial recurrence of gender-balanced twins | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151002160341/http://home.comcast.net/~brucehjohnson/bgtwins.pdf | archive-date=October 2, 2015 }}</ref> |
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The time at which insemination occurs during the |
The time at which insemination occurs during the [[estrus cycle]] has been found to affect the sex ratio of the offspring of humans, cattle, hamsters, and other mammals.<ref name="Krackow-1995">{{cite journal | vauthors = Krackow S | title = Potential mechanisms for sex ratio adjustment in mammals and birds | journal = Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society | volume = 70 | issue = 2 | pages = 225–241 | date = May 1995 | pmid = 7605846 | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-185X.1995.tb01066.x | s2cid = 27957961 }}</ref> Hormonal and pH conditions within the female reproductive tract vary with time, and this affects the sex ratio of the sperm that reach the egg.<ref name="Krackow-1995"/> |
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Sex-specific mortality of embryos also occurs.<ref name=Krackow/> |
Sex-specific mortality of embryos also occurs.<ref name="Krackow-1995"/> |
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== History == |
== History == |
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=== Ancient ideas on sex determination === |
=== Ancient ideas on sex determination === |
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[[Aristotle]] believed incorrectly that the sex of an infant is determined by how much heat a man's sperm had during insemination. He wrote: |
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{{Blockquote|text=... the semen of the male differs from the corresponding secretion of the female in that it contains a principle within itself of such a kind as to set up movements also in the embryo and to concoct thoroughly the ultimate nourishment, whereas the secretion of the female contains material alone. If, then, the male element prevails it draws the female element into itself, but if it is prevailed over it changes into the opposite or is destroyed.}} |
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Since ancient times, people have believed that the sex of an infant is determined by how much heat a man's sperm had during insemination. Aristotle wrote that: |
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Aristotle claimed in error that the male principle was the driver behind sex determination,<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Aristotle | title = De Generatione Animalium | date = September 2013 | trans-title = Generation of Animals | language = Latin | volume = 766B | pages = 15–17 | publisher = General Books | isbn = 978-1-230-42265-7 }}</ref> such that if the male principle was insufficiently expressed during reproduction, the [[fetus]] would develop as a female. |
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{{Quote|text=...the semen of the male differs from the corresponding secretion of the female in that it contains a principle within itself of such a kind as to set up movements also in the embryo and to concoct thoroughly the ultimate nourishment, whereas the secretion of the female contains material alone. If, then, the male element prevails it draws the female element into itself, but if it is prevailed over it changes into the opposite or is destroyed.}} |
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Aristotle claimed that the male principle was the driver behind sex determination,<ref>''De Generatione Animalium'', 766B 15‑17.</ref> such that if the male principle was insufficiently expressed during reproduction, the [[fetus]] would develop as a female. |
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=== 20th century genetics === |
=== 20th century genetics === |
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[[File:Nettie Maria Stevens.jpg|thumb|[[Nettie Stevens]] in 1904]] |
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[[Nettie Stevens]] and [[Edmund Beecher Wilson]] are credited with independently discovering, in 1905, the chromosomal XY sex-determination system, i.e. the fact that males have XY sex [[chromosomes]] and females have XX sex chromosomes. {{citation needed|date=May 2014}} |
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[[File:Edmund Beecher Wilson between about 1885 and 1891.jpg|thumb|[[Edmund Beecher Wilson]], before 1891]] |
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[[Nettie Stevens]] (working with beetles) and [[Edmund Beecher Wilson]] (working with [[hemiptera]]) are credited with independently discovering, in 1905, the chromosomal XY sex-determination system in insects: the fact that males have XY sex [[chromosomes]] and females have XX sex chromosomes.<ref name="Brush-1978">{{cite journal | vauthors = Brush SG | title = Nettie M. Stevens and the discovery of sex determination by chromosomes | journal = Isis; an International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences | volume = 69 | issue = 247 | pages = 163–172 | date = June 1978 | pmid = 389882 | doi = 10.1086/352001 | s2cid = 1919033 | jstor = 230427 }}</ref><ref name="Stevens">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dnaftb.org/9/bio.html|title=Specialized chromosomes determine sex. - Nettie Maria Stevens | work = DNA from the Beginning |access-date=2016-07-07|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001065058/http://www.dnaftb.org/9/bio.html|archive-date=2012-10-01 | publisher = DNA Learning Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory | location = Laurel Hollow, New York }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | veditors = Heilbron JL | title = The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 2003 | chapter = Genetics | isbn = 978-0-19-511229-0 }}</ref> In the early 1920s, [[Theophilus Painter]] demonstrated that sex in humans (and other mammals) was also determined by the X and Y chromosomes, and the chromosomes that make this determination are carried by the spermatozoa.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Glass B | date = 1990 | chapter-url = https://www.nasonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/painter-theophilus-shickel.pdf | chapter = Theophilus Shickel Painter 1889—1969 | title = Biographical Memoirs | volume = 59 | publisher = National Academy of Sciences | location = Washington DC | isbn = 978-0-309-04198-0 }}</ref> |
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The first clues to the existence of a factor that determines the development of testis in mammals came from experiments carried out by [[Alfred Jost]],<ref>Jost A |
The first clues to the existence of a factor that determines the development of testis in mammals came from experiments carried out by [[Alfred Jost]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Jost A | title = Recherches sur la differenciation sexuelle de l'embryon de lapin | trans-title = Research on sexual differentiation of the rabbit embryo | journal = Archives d'anatomie microscopique et de morphologie expérimentale | trans-journal = Archives of microscopic anatomy and experimental morphology | language = fr | volume = 36 | pages = 271–315 | date = 1947 }}</ref> who castrated embryonic rabbits in utero and noticed that they all acquired a female [[phenotype]].<ref name="Zhao-2019">{{cite journal | vauthors = Zhao F, Yao HH | title = A tale of two tracts: history, current advances, and future directions of research on sexual differentiation of reproductive tracts† | journal = Biology of Reproduction | volume = 101 | issue = 3 | pages = 602–616 | date = September 2019 | pmid = 31058957 | pmc = 6791057 | doi = 10.1093/biolre/ioz079 }}</ref> |
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In 1959, C. E. Ford and his team, in the wake of Jost's experiments, discovered<ref>{{cite journal| |
In 1959, [[C. E. Ford]] and his team, in the wake of Jost's experiments, discovered<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ford CE, Jones KW, Polani PE, De Almeida JC, Briggs JH | title = A sex-chromosome anomaly in a case of gonadal dysgenesis (Turner's syndrome) | journal = Lancet | volume = 1 | issue = 7075 | pages = 711–713 | date = April 1959 | pmid = 13642858 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(59)91893-8 }}</ref> that the Y chromosome was needed for a fetus to develop as male when they examined patients with [[Turner syndrome|Turner's syndrome]], who grew up as phenotypic females, and found them to be X0 ([[hemizygous]] for X and no Y). At the same time, Jacob & Strong described a case of a patient with [[Klinefelter syndrome]] (XXY),<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Jacobs PA, Strong JA | title = A case of human intersexuality having a possible XXY sex-determining mechanism | journal = Nature | volume = 183 | issue = 4657 | pages = 302–303 | date = January 1959 | pmid = 13632697 | doi = 10.1038/183302a0 | s2cid = 38349997 | bibcode = 1959Natur.183..302J }}</ref> which implicated the presence of a Y chromosome in development of maleness.<ref name="Schoenwolf-2009" /> |
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All these observations |
All these observations led to a consensus that a dominant gene that determines testis development ([[Testis determining factor|TDF]]) must exist on the human Y chromosome.<ref name="Schoenwolf-2009" /> The search for this [[Testis determining factor|testis-determining factor]] (TDF) led to [[Peter Goodfellow (geneticist)|Peter Goodfellow's]] team of scientists<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sinclair AH, Berta P, Palmer MS, Hawkins JR, Griffiths BL, Smith MJ, Foster JW, Frischauf AM, Lovell-Badge R, Goodfellow PN | title = A gene from the human sex-determining region encodes a protein with homology to a conserved DNA-binding motif | journal = Nature | volume = 346 | issue = 6281 | pages = 240–244 | date = July 1990 | pmid = 1695712 | doi = 10.1038/346240a0 | s2cid = 4364032 | bibcode = 1990Natur.346..240S }}</ref> in 1990 to discover a region of the Y chromosome that is necessary for the male sex determination, which was named [[SRY]] (sex-determining region of the Y chromosome).<ref name="Schoenwolf-2009">{{cite book| vauthors = Schoenwolf GC |title=Larsen's human embryology|date=2009|publisher=Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-443-06811-9 |chapter=Development of the Urogenital system|edition=4th |pages=307–9}}</ref> |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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* [[Sexual differentiation]] (human) |
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*[[Intersex]]uality for information on variations in human sexual forms |
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*[[ |
* [[Secondary sex characteristic]] (human) |
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*[[Y-chromosomal Adam]] |
* [[Y-chromosomal Adam]] |
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* [[Sex determination in Silene|Sex Determination in ''Silene'']] |
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* [[Sex-determination system]] |
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* [[Haplodiploid sex-determination system]] |
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* [[Z0 sex-determination system]] |
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* [[ZW sex-determination system]] |
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* [[Temperature-dependent sex determination]] |
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* [[X chromosome]] |
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* [[Y chromosome]] |
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* [[XY gonadal dysgenesis]] |
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== References ==<!-- CytogenetGenomeRes101:266. --> |
== References ==<!-- CytogenetGenomeRes101:266. --> |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist|30em}} |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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* [http://bio.research.ucsc.edu/~barrylab/classes/animal_behavior/SEX_DEVO.HTM Sex Determination and Differentiation] |
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061028084235/http://bio.research.ucsc.edu/~barrylab/classes/animal_behavior/SEX_DEVO.HTM Sex Determination and Differentiation] |
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* [http://blogs.kqed.org/science/2013/07/12/can-mammalian-mothers-control-the-sex-of-their-offspring Can Mammalian Mothers Control the Sex of their Offspring?] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20150602025813/http://blogs.kqed.org/science/ KQED Science article] on [[San Diego Zoo]] research.) |
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* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?call=bv.View..ShowSection&rid=gnd.section.156 SRY: Sex determination] from the [[National Center for Biotechnology Information]] |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160512113755/http://www.biolreprod.org/content/71/4/1063.full Maternal Diet and Other Factors Affecting Offspring Sex Ratio: A Review], published in [http://www.biolreprod.org Biology of Reproduction] |
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* [http://blogs.kqed.org/science/2013/07/12/can-mammalian-mothers-control-the-sex-of-their-offspring Can Mammalian Mothers Control the Sex of their Offspring?] ([http://blogs.kqed.org/science KQED Science article] on [[San Diego Zoo]] research.) |
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* [https://www.bio.davidson.edu/courses/molbio/restricted/01Dom/Dom.html Sex Determination and the Maternal Dominance Hypothesis] |
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* [http://www.biolreprod.org/content/71/4/1063.full Maternal Diet and Other Factors Affecting Offspring Sex Ratio: A Review], published in [http://www.biolreprod.org Biology of Reproduction] |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160817173115/http://www.wikigenes.org/e/mesh/e/6590.html Sperm-Ovum Interactions at WikiGenes] |
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* [http://www.bio.davidson.edu/courses/molbio/restricted/01Dom/Dom.html Sex Determination and the Maternal Dominance Hypothesis] |
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* [http://www.wikigenes.org/e/mesh/e/6590.html Sperm-Ovum Interactions at WikiGenes] |
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{{Sex determination and differentiation|state=expanded}} |
{{Sex determination and differentiation|state=expanded}} |
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{{Sex (biology)|state=expanded}} |
{{Sex (biology)|state=expanded}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Xy Sex-Determination System}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xy Sex-Determination System}} |
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[[Category:Sex-determination systems]] |
[[Category:Sex-determination systems]] |
Latest revision as of 04:18, 29 December 2024
Part of a series on |
Sex |
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Sexuality |
Sexual system |
The XY sex-determination system is a sex-determination system present in many mammals, including humans, some insects (Drosophila), some snakes, some fish (guppies), and some plants (Ginkgo tree).
In this system, the sex of an individual usually is determined by a pair of sex chromosomes. Typically, females have two of the same kind of sex chromosome (XX), and are called the homogametic sex. Males typically have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (XY), and are called the heterogametic sex.[1] In humans, the presence of the Y chromosome is responsible for triggering male development; in the absence of the Y chromosome, the fetus will undergo female development, except with various exceptions such as individuals with Swyer syndrome, that have XY chromosomes and a female phenotype, and de la Chapelle Syndrome, that have XX chromosomes and a male phenotype, however these exceptions are rare. In some instances, a seemingly normal female with a vagina, cervix, and ovaries has XY chromosomes, but the SRY gene has been shut down.[2][3] In most species with XY sex determination, an organism must have at least one X chromosome in order to survive.[4][5]
The XY system contrasts in several ways with the ZW sex-determination system found in birds, some insects, many reptiles, and various other animals, in which the heterogametic sex is female.
A temperature-dependent sex determination system is found in some reptiles and fish.
Mechanisms
[edit]All animals have a set of DNA coding for genes present on chromosomes. In humans, most mammals, and some other species, two of the chromosomes, called the X chromosome and Y chromosome, code for sex. In these species, one or more genes are present on their Y chromosome that determine maleness. In this process, an X chromosome and a Y chromosome act to determine the sex of offspring, often due to genes located on the Y chromosome that code for maleness. Offspring have two sex chromosomes: an offspring with two X chromosomes (XX) will develop female characteristics, and an offspring with an X and a Y chromosome (XY) will develop male characteristics.
Mammals
[edit]In most mammals, sex is determined by presence of the Y chromosome. This makes individuals with XXY and XYY karyotypes males, and individuals with X and XXX karyotypes females.[1]
In the 1930s, Alfred Jost determined that the presence of testosterone was required for Wolffian duct development in the male rabbit.[6]
SRY is a sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome in the therians (placental mammals and marsupials).[7] Non-human mammals use several genes on the Y chromosome.[citation needed]
Not all male-specific genes are located on the Y chromosome. The platypus, a monotreme, use five pairs of different XY chromosomes with six groups of male-linked genes, AMH being the master switch.[8]
Humans
[edit]A single gene (SRY) present on the Y chromosome acts as a signal to set the developmental pathway towards maleness. Presence of this gene starts off the process of virilization. This and other factors result in the sex differences in humans.[9] The cells in females, with two X chromosomes, undergo X-inactivation, in which one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated. The inactivated X chromosome remains within a cell as a Barr body.
Other animals
[edit]Some species of turtles have convergently evolved XY sex determination systems, specifically those in Chelidae and Staurotypinae.[10]
Other species (including most Drosophila species) use the presence of two X chromosomes to determine femaleness: one X chromosome gives putative maleness, but the presence of Y chromosome genes is required for normal male development. In the fruit fly individuals with XY are male and individuals with XX are female; however, individuals with XXY or XXX can also be female, and individuals with X can be males.[11]
Plants
[edit]Angiosperms
[edit]While very few species of dioecious angiosperm have XY sex determination, making up less than 5% of all species, the sheer diversity of angiosperms means that the total number of species with XY sex determination is actually quite high, estimated to be at around 13,000 species. Molecular and evolutionary studies also show that XY sex determination has evolved independently many times in upwards of 175 unique families, with a recent study suggesting its evolution has independently occurred hundreds to thousands of times.[12]
Many economically important crops are known to have an XY system of sex determination, including kiwifruit,[13] asparagus,[14] grapes[15] and date palms.[16]
Gymnosperms
[edit]In sharp contrast to angiosperms, approximately 65% of gymnosperms are dioecious. Some families which contain members that are known to have a XY system of sex determination include the cycad families Cycadaceae and Zamiaceae, Ginkgoaceae, Gnetaceae and Podocarpaceae.[17]
Other systems
[edit]Whilst XY sex determination is the most familiar, since it is the system that humans use, there are a range of alternative systems found in nature. The inverse of the XY system (called ZW to distinguish it) is used in birds and many insects, in which it is the females that are heterogametic (ZW), while males are homogametic (ZZ).[18]
Many insects of the order Hymenoptera instead have a haplo-diploid system, where the females are full diploids (with all chromosomes appearing in pairs) but males are haploid (having just one copy of all chromosomes). Some other insects have the X0 sex-determination system, where just the sex-determining chromosome varies in ploidy (XX in females but X in males), while all other chromosomes appear in pairs in both sexes.[19]
Influences
[edit]Genetic
[edit]In an interview for the Rediscovering Biology website,[20] researcher Eric Vilain described how the paradigm changed since the discovery of the SRY gene:
For a long time we thought that SRY would activate a cascade of male genes. It turns out that the sex determination pathway is probably more complicated and SRY may in fact inhibit some anti-male genes.
The idea is instead of having a simplistic mechanism by which you have pro-male genes going all the way to make a male, in fact there is a solid balance between pro-male genes and anti-male genes and if there is a little too much of anti-male genes, there may be a female born and if there is a little too much of pro-male genes then there will be a male born.
We [are] entering this new era in molecular biology of sex determination where it's a more subtle dosage of genes, some pro-males, some pro-females, some anti-males, some anti-females that all interplay with each other rather than a simple linear pathway of genes going one after the other, which makes it very fascinating but very complicated to study.
In an interview by Scientific American in 2007, Vilian was asked: "It sounds as if you are describing a shift from the prevailing view that female development is a default molecular pathway to active pro-male and antimale pathways. Are there also pro-female and antifemale pathways?"[21] He replied:
Modern sex determination started at the end of the 1940s—1947—when the French physiologist Alfred Jost said it's the testis that is determining sex. Having a testis determines maleness, not having a testis determines femaleness. The ovary is not sex-determining. It will not influence the development of the external genitalia. Now in 1959 when the karyotype of Klinefelter [a male who is XXY] and Turner [a female who has one X] syndromes was discovered, it became clear that in humans it was the presence or the absence of the Y chromosome that's sex determining. Because all Klinefelters that have a Y are male, whereas Turners, who have no Y, are females. So it's not a dosage or the number of X's, it's really the presence or absence of the Y. So if you combine those two paradigms, you end up having a molecular basis that's likely to be a factor, a gene, that's a testis-determining factor, and that's the sex-determining gene. So the field based on that is really oriented towards finding testis-determining factors. What we discovered, though, was not just pro-testis determining factors. There are a number of factors that are there, like WNT4, like DAX1, whose function is to counterbalance the male pathway.
In mammals, including humans, the SRY gene triggers the development of non-differentiated gonads into testes rather than ovaries. However, there are cases in which testes can develop in the absence of an SRY gene (see sex reversal). In these cases, the SOX9 gene, involved in the development of testes, can induce their development without the aid of SRY. In the absence of SRY and SOX9, no testes can develop and the path is clear for the development of ovaries. Even so, the absence of the SRY gene or the silencing of the SOX9 gene are not enough to trigger sexual differentiation of a fetus in the female direction. A recent finding suggests that ovary development and maintenance is an active process,[22] regulated by the expression of a "pro-female" gene, FOXL2. In an interview[23] for the TimesOnline edition, study co-author Robin Lovell-Badge explained the significance of the discovery:
We take it for granted that we maintain the sex we are born with, including whether we have testes or ovaries. But this work shows that the activity of a single gene, FOXL2, is all that prevents adult ovary cells turning into cells found in testes.
Implications
[edit]Looking into the genetic determinants of human sex can have wide-ranging consequences. Scientists have been studying different sex determination systems in fruit flies and animal models to attempt an understanding of how the genetics of sexual differentiation can influence biological processes like reproduction, ageing[24] and disease.
Maternal
[edit]In humans and many other species of animals, the father determines the sex of the child. In the XY sex-determination system, the female-provided ovum contributes an X chromosome and the male-provided sperm contributes either an X chromosome or a Y chromosome, resulting in female (XX) or male (XY) offspring, respectively.
Hormone levels in the male parent affect the sex ratio of sperm in humans.[25] Maternal influences also impact which sperm are more likely to achieve conception.
Human ova, like those of other mammals, are covered with a thick translucent layer called the zona pellucida, which the sperm must penetrate to fertilize the egg. Once viewed simply as an impediment to fertilization, recent research indicates the zona pellucida may instead function as a sophisticated biological security system that chemically controls the entry of the sperm into the egg and protects the fertilized egg from additional sperm.[26]
Recent research indicates that human ova may produce a chemical which appears to attract sperm and influence their swimming motion. However, not all sperm are positively impacted; some appear to remain uninfluenced and some actually move away from the egg.[27]
Maternal influences may also be possible that affect sex determination in such a way as to produce fraternal twins equally weighted between one male and one female.[28]
The time at which insemination occurs during the estrus cycle has been found to affect the sex ratio of the offspring of humans, cattle, hamsters, and other mammals.[25] Hormonal and pH conditions within the female reproductive tract vary with time, and this affects the sex ratio of the sperm that reach the egg.[25]
Sex-specific mortality of embryos also occurs.[25]
History
[edit]Ancient ideas on sex determination
[edit]Aristotle believed incorrectly that the sex of an infant is determined by how much heat a man's sperm had during insemination. He wrote:
... the semen of the male differs from the corresponding secretion of the female in that it contains a principle within itself of such a kind as to set up movements also in the embryo and to concoct thoroughly the ultimate nourishment, whereas the secretion of the female contains material alone. If, then, the male element prevails it draws the female element into itself, but if it is prevailed over it changes into the opposite or is destroyed.
Aristotle claimed in error that the male principle was the driver behind sex determination,[29] such that if the male principle was insufficiently expressed during reproduction, the fetus would develop as a female.
20th century genetics
[edit]Nettie Stevens (working with beetles) and Edmund Beecher Wilson (working with hemiptera) are credited with independently discovering, in 1905, the chromosomal XY sex-determination system in insects: the fact that males have XY sex chromosomes and females have XX sex chromosomes.[30][31][32] In the early 1920s, Theophilus Painter demonstrated that sex in humans (and other mammals) was also determined by the X and Y chromosomes, and the chromosomes that make this determination are carried by the spermatozoa.[33]
The first clues to the existence of a factor that determines the development of testis in mammals came from experiments carried out by Alfred Jost,[34] who castrated embryonic rabbits in utero and noticed that they all acquired a female phenotype.[35]
In 1959, C. E. Ford and his team, in the wake of Jost's experiments, discovered[36] that the Y chromosome was needed for a fetus to develop as male when they examined patients with Turner's syndrome, who grew up as phenotypic females, and found them to be X0 (hemizygous for X and no Y). At the same time, Jacob & Strong described a case of a patient with Klinefelter syndrome (XXY),[37] which implicated the presence of a Y chromosome in development of maleness.[38]
All these observations led to a consensus that a dominant gene that determines testis development (TDF) must exist on the human Y chromosome.[38] The search for this testis-determining factor (TDF) led to Peter Goodfellow's team of scientists[39] in 1990 to discover a region of the Y chromosome that is necessary for the male sex determination, which was named SRY (sex-determining region of the Y chromosome).[38]
See also
[edit]- Sexual differentiation (human)
- Secondary sex characteristic (human)
- Y-chromosomal Adam
- Sex Determination in Silene
- Sex-determination system
- Haplodiploid sex-determination system
- Z0 sex-determination system
- ZW sex-determination system
- Temperature-dependent sex determination
- X chromosome
- Y chromosome
- XY gonadal dysgenesis
References
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External links
[edit]- Sex Determination and Differentiation
- Can Mammalian Mothers Control the Sex of their Offspring? (KQED Science article on San Diego Zoo research.)
- Maternal Diet and Other Factors Affecting Offspring Sex Ratio: A Review, published in Biology of Reproduction
- Sex Determination and the Maternal Dominance Hypothesis
- Sperm-Ovum Interactions at WikiGenes