Genetics Lecture 16: Sex determination Flashcards
what are simultaneous hermaphrodites
give example
can self fertilise
eg. penis fencing in marine flatworms
first individual to pierce other deposit sperm in the other
what are the advantages of sexual reproduction
variable progeny
by random segregation of chromosomes, we have 8 mill gametes produced
what are the sex determination mechanisms
genotypic
environmental
what is genotypic sex determination
- hormones - sex determining genes initiate sex determination and are controlled by the gonadal hormones
- ploidy level - eg. bees - haplodiploidy –> diploid females, haploid males
- chromosomal determination : xx/xo , xx/xy , zz/zw, x:A
what is environmental sex determination
sex determined after fertilization due to enviro facto
- temperature in critical period in juvenile development
- stressful condns eg. Daphnia
- behaviour eg. lsrval location/ settling behaviour. social structure change (sex ratio) in adults prompting sex changes
discuss haplodiploidy
- > how is sex determines
- > what is csd? what does it target
2n (female) n (male)
in honey bees - which lack sex chromosome, a single complementary sex determination gene (csd) targets the feminizer (fem) gene needed for female development. the fem product then acts on the double sex gene
haploids are hemizygous for csd and become males as they dont produce fem gene product
why do haploid honey bees become males
they dont produce a fem gene product as alternate splicing in males adds a stop codon into the fem coding sequence
discuss sex determination in Drosophila
Drosophila have XXX (metafemales), ratio of 0.67 –> most of them are sterile or die off
have a sex lethal gene which starts the cascade of mRNA alternate splicing to produce female specific proteins
female doublesex represses male genes and activates female genes. Male doublesex represses female genes
what is intersex
have one ovary and one testes = resemble the phenotypes of both males and females, often infertile
whta results from a X:A 1:1 ratio
the sex lethal gene becomes activated and produces a female specific protein which works on the transformer gene which produces another protein that works on double sex gene, which produces a protein that works on the female phenotype
what results from an unbalanced X:A ratio
the sex lethal gene produces no functional product and no functional transformer protein, so double sex gene produces male proteins, resulting in male phenotype and represses the female genes
what is the default sex in Drosophila, why?
the default sex in Drosophila is MALE: sex lethal needs to be switched ON, if not, the male is default
how to know if someone is male or female
- anatomy
- endocrinology
- chromosomes
- genes
what are genital ridges
all humans have them as fetuses: bipotential gonads that can develop into male or female gonads, depending on what happens after fertilisation
what does the PAR do in Y chromosome
pseudoautosomal region right at top.
connects the X and Y chromosomes together and forms a chiasma, needed for correct segregation
also one at bottom
what main gene on Y chrom is involved in sex determination in humans
SRY gene - determines male sex
v. close to PAR
it i the male determining region of Y chrom
name a transcription factor in humans required for male gonadal function
DMRT1 - double sex mab 3 related transcription factor 1
discuss what effect SRY gene has on sex determining
at week 8 after fertilisation, SRY gene gets switched ON (if it is present). it produces gonads which differentiate into testes, then the hormones produced by the testes give the male phenotype
what sex is human with SRY gene
male
what happens to human SRY-
if SRY gene not switched on, timeline of embryonic development carries until week 13, when the Od (ovary developmental gene) is switched on.
therefore if SRY is on, it inhibits Od gene
if SRY off, you get activation Od gene which results in ovary formation and embryo development into gemale