Primary sex determination in the nematode C. elegans

Development ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 101 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hodgkin
Keyword(s):  
Sex Determination ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
X Chromosomes ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Determination System ◽  
One Step ◽  
Sex Determination System ◽  
Specific Control

Most nematodes have XO male/XX female sex determination. C. elegans is anomalous, having XX hermaphrodites rather than females. The hermaphrodite condition appears to result from the modification of a basic male/female sex-determination system, which permits both spermatogenesis and oogenesis to occur within a female soma. This modification is achieved by a germ-line-specific control acting at one step in a cascade of autosomal regulatory genes, which respond to X-chromosome dosage and direct male, female, or hermaphrodite development. Mutations of one of these genes can be used to construct artificial strains with ZZ male/WZ female sex determination. Primary sex determination normally depends on the ratio of X chromosomes to autosomes, as in Drosophila, and there appear to be multiple sites on the X chromosome that contribute to this ratio. Also, as in Drosophila, X-chromosome expression is compensated to equalize gene activity in XX and XO animals. Interactions between dosage compensation and sex determination are described and discussed.

Major sex-determining genes and the control of sexual dimorphism in Caenorhabditis elegans

Genome ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 625-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hodgkin ◽  
Andrew D. Chisholm ◽  
Michael M. Shen
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Cell Lineage ◽  
Regulatory Genes ◽  
Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
X Chromosomes ◽  
The Many ◽  
Lineage Analysis

Sex determination in Caenorhabditis elegans involves a cascade of major regulatory genes connecting the primary sex determining signal, X chromosome dosage, to key switch genes, which in turn direct development along either male or female pathways. Animals with one X chromosome (XO) are male, while animals with two X chromosomes (XX) are hermaphrodite: hermaphrodite development occurs because the action of the regulatory genes is modified in the germ line so that both sperm and oocytes are made inside a completely female soma. The regulatory genes are being examined by both genetic and molecular means. We discuss how these major genes, in particular the last switch gene in the cascade, tra-1, might regulate the many different sex-specific events that occur during the development of the hermaphrodite and of the male.Key words: nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, sex determination, sexual differentiation, cell lineage analysis.

WHITE EYE AND CURLED, RECESSIVE MUTANTS ON THE X CHROMOSOME OF ANOPHELES ALBIMANUS

1982 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 661-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Seawright ◽  
M. Q. Benedict ◽  
S. Narang ◽  
P. E. Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Sex Determination ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Anopheles Albimanus ◽  
Recessive Lethal ◽  
Y Chromosomes ◽  
Determination System ◽  
Sex Determination System ◽  
Mode Of Inheritance

Two new mutants, white eye (we) and curled (cr), of Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann were isolated and studied. Both mutants are recessive and are approximately 18.9 ± 1.9 units apart on the X chromosome. White eye is fully viable, but cr is a recessive lethal. The mode of inheritance of these two mutants provides further evidence of an X-Y sex determination system in An. albimanus and a lack of homology between the X and Y chromosomes.

scholarly journals Complex Structure of Lasiopodomys mandarinus vinogradovi Sex Chromosomes, Sex Determination, and Intraspecific Autosomal Polymorphism

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana A. Romanenko ◽  
Antonina V. Smorkatcheva ◽  
Yulia M. Kovalskaya ◽  
Dmitry Yu. Prokopov ◽  
Natalya A. Lemskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Determination ◽  
Sex Chromosomes ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
X Chromosomes ◽  
Single Chromosome ◽  
Determination System ◽  
Sex Determination System ◽  
Mandarin Vole

The mandarin vole, Lasiopodomys mandarinus, is one of the most intriguing species among mammals with non-XX/XY sex chromosome system. It combines polymorphism in diploid chromosome numbers, variation in the morphology of autosomes, heteromorphism of X chromosomes, and several sex chromosome systems the origin of which remains unexplained. Here we elucidate the sex determination system in Lasiopodomys mandarinus vinogradovi using extensive karyotyping, crossbreeding experiments, molecular cytogenetic methods, and single chromosome DNA sequencing. Among 205 karyotyped voles, one male and three female combinations of sex chromosomes were revealed. The chromosome segregation pattern and karyomorph-related reproductive performances suggested an aberrant sex determination with almost half of the females carrying neo-X/neo-Y combination. The comparative chromosome painting strongly supported this proposition and revealed the mandarin vole sex chromosome systems originated due to at least two de novo autosomal translocations onto the ancestral X chromosome. The polymorphism in autosome 2 was not related to sex chromosome variability and was proved to result from pericentric inversions. Sequencing of microdissection derived of sex chromosomes allowed the determination of the coordinates for syntenic regions but did not reveal any Y-specific sequences. Several possible sex determination mechanisms as well as interpopulation karyological differences are discussed.

Karyotype of the South African katydid Hetrodes pupus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) with special reference to relationships within the Hetrodinae subfamily

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2137 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELŻBIETA WARCHAŁOWSKA-ŚLIWA ◽  
ALEXANDER G. BUGROV
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
South African ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Chromosome Evolution ◽  
Cytogenetic Study ◽  
Meiotic Chromosomes ◽  
Determination System ◽  
Sex Determination System

The taxonomic position of Hetrodes pupus (Tettigoniidae, Hetrodinae) was clarified by a cytogenetic study of mitotic and meiotic chromosomes, including the localization of heterochromatin by C-banding. The karyotype of this species consists of 26 acrocentric autosomes and an acrocentric X chromosome, the largest element of the karyotype (2n male=27, FN=27; sex determination system is X0 male/XX female). A cytogenetic comparative analysis of the Hetrodinae and other katydids revealed (1) the similarity of the karyotypic features of Hetrodinae and Microtettigoninae, indicating monophyly; (2) that the morphology of the Hetrodinae karyotype is the result of parallel chromosome evolution via a decrease in the number of chromosome arms (FN).

scholarly journals Evolution of Sex Determination in Caenorhabditis: Unusually High Divergence of tra-1 and Its Functional Consequences

Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 144 (2) ◽  
pp. 587-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario de Bono ◽  
Jonathan Hodgkin
Keyword(s):  
Sex Determination ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Amino Acid Identity ◽  
Evolution Of Sex ◽  
Phenotypic Differences ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Functional Studies ◽  
Somatic Gonad ◽  
Functional Consequences ◽  
Significant Divergence

Abstract The tra-1 gene is a terminal regulator of somatic sex in Caenorhabditis elegans: high tra-1 activity elicits female development, low tra-1 activity elicits male development. To investigate the function and evolution of tra-1, we examined the tra-1 gene from the closely related nematode C. briggsae. Ce-tra-1 and Cb-tra-1 are unusually divergent. Each gene generates two transcripts, but only one of these is present in both species. This common transcript encodes TRA-1A, which shows only 44% amino acid identity between the species, a figure much lower than that for previously compared genes. A Cb-tra-1 transgene rescues many tissues of tra-1(nul1) mutants of C. elegans but not the somatic gonad or germ line. This transgene also causes nongonadal feminization of XO animals, indicating incorrect sexual regulation. Alignment of Ce-TRA-1A and Cb-TRA-1A defines several conserved regions likely to be important for tra-1 function. The phenotypic differences between Ce-tra-1(null) mutants rescued by Cb-tra-1 transgenes and wild-type C. elegans indicate significant divergence of regulatory regions. These molecular and functional studies suggest that evolution of sex determination in nematodes is rapid and genetically complex.

Random X-chromosome inactivation in female primordial germ cells in the mouse

Development ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-258
Author(s):  
Andy McMahon ◽  
Mandy Fosten ◽  
Marilyn Monk
Keyword(s):  
X Chromosome ◽  
Germ Cells ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Primordial Germ Cells ◽  
Phosphoglycerate Kinase ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Yolk Sac ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
X Chromosomes

The pattern of expression of the two X chromosomes was investigated in pre-meiotic germ cells from 12½-day-old female embryos heterozygous for the variant electrophoretic forms of the X-linked enzyme phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK-1). If such germ cells carry the preferentially active Searle's translocated X chromosome (Lyon, Searle, Ford & Ohno, 1964), then only the Pgk-1 allele on this chromosome is expressed. This confirms Johnston's evidence (1979,1981) that Pgk-1 expression reflects a single active X chromosome at this time. Extracts of 12½-day germ cells from heterozygous females carrying two normal X chromosomes show both the A and the B forms of PGK; since only one X chromosome in each cell is active, different alleles must be expressed in different cells, suggesting that X-chromosome inactivation is normally random in the germ line. This result makes it unlikely that germ cells are derived from the yolk-sac endoderm where the paternally derived X chromosome is preferentially inactivated. In their pattern of X-chromosome inactivation, germ cells evidently resemble other tissues derived from the epiblast.

SEX AND SUPERNUMERARY CHROMOSOMES IN THE DIOECIOUS GRASS SOHNSIA FILIFOLIA

1972 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. N. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Sex Determination ◽  
Y Chromosome ◽  
Supernumerary Chromosome ◽  
The Other ◽  
Male Plant ◽  
Diploid Male ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Supernumerary Chromosomes ◽  
Determination System ◽  
Sex Determination System

A dioecious grass Sohnsia filifolia (Fourn.) Airy Shaw (Syn. Calamochloa filifolia Fourn.) from Mexico has been found to have 2n = 20 chromosomes in both male and female plants. The staminate plants have one chromosome much longer than the other chromosomes of the complement. One pistillate plant was found to have 30 chromosomes, among which the largest chromosome is quite similar to the largest component of the diploid male plant. The longest chromosome has been designated as the Y chromosome. An XY-mechanism of the Drosophilia type has been suggested for the sex determination system in this species. One small supernumerary chromosome was observed in the microsporocytes of some male plants, but was absent in roots.

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