Sex Determination Mechanisms

• Hermaphroditism: both sexes in the same

organism

• Monoecious: both male and female

reproductive structures in the same organism

• Dioecious: either male or female reproductive

structures in one organism
 Chromosomal Sex-Determination Systems:
Sex chromosomes and non-sex chromosomes
(autosomes)
Most species of animals and plants carry a pair of chromosomes that determine the individuals
sex.
These are called sex chromosomes.
All other chromosomes are called autosomal
• XX-XO system:
• XX – female
• XO – male
• grasshoppers

• XX-XY system:
• XX – female
• XY – male
• mammals
•Females have two
complementary sex
chromosomes: XX
•Males have 2 non-
complementary sex
chromosomes: XY
 The Y chromosome

• The Y chromosome is much smaller than

the X.
• It carries a small number of genes, most of
which are for “male characteristics”
 X chromosome

• All human eggs contain the X

chromosome.
• The X chromosome contains genes that
code for all aspects of femaleness and
genes unrelated to gender.
• Including genes for:
– Vision
– Immunity
 Sex-Linked Genes

• Genes unrelated to gender on the X

chromosome.
• Females have two X chromosomes (so
they can be heterozygous or homozygous
for each of these genes)
• Males have one copy of the sex-linked
genes.
• Thus, the male is referred to as
hemizygous.
 Hemophilia

A blood disorder where the blood does not

clot properly.
 A minor cut can cause serious injury and
demand medical attention.
Bleeding into the joints, internal bleeding and
deep cuts can be fatal for hemophiliacs.
Genetic lack of one of the clotting factors
produced by the liver.
There is no cure for hemophilia but treatment
options with clotting factor transfusions are
available.
Complications from hemophilia include: bruising and
bleeding into the muscles, bleeding into the joints,
infection, adverse reaction to transfusions and serious
bleeding.
 Genetics of Hemophilia
• The gene for • Males are more likely
hemophilia is found to get hemophilia.
on the X chromosome • Females have the
• It is a recessive possibility of being
disorder. heterozygous for
• It is referred to as a hemophilia. (This
sex-linked recessive makes them a carrier)
disorder.
In this example: The
father has hemophilia.
He cannot give his son
hemophilia because he
gives his son the Y
chromosome.
He can give his
daughter the recessive
gene, but if her mother
does not give her the
recessive gene, she will
not have hemophilia.
She will be a carrier.
In this example:
The mother is a carrier
of hemophilia.
She does not have
hemophilia but she is
heterozygous for the
trait.
There is a 50% chance
her son will have
hemophilia.
 Color Blindness

• Males are more likely to be color blind due

to the fact they only have one X
chromosome.
• Color Blindness is a sex-linked trait found
on the X chromosome.
In this example:
the mother is a
carrier of the
colorblind gene.
There is a 50%
chance her son will
be colorblind but
unless the father is
colorblind the
daughter cannot
end up colorblind.
 Chromosomal Sex-Determination
Systems

• ZZ-ZW system:
• ZZ – male
• ZW – female
• Birds, snakes, butterflies, some amphibians,
and fishes
• Haplodiploidy system:
• Haploid set – male
• Diploid set – female
• Bees, wasps, and ants
 Genic Sex-Determining System

• No sex chromosomes, only the sex-determining

genes
 Genic Sex-Determining System

• No sex chromosomes, only the sex-determining genes

• Environmental Sex Determination
• Temperature in turtles
• The eggs are affected by the temperature at which
they are incubated during the middle one-third
of embryonic development. This critical period of
incubation is known as the thermo-sensitive period
(TSP)
• Some reptiles use
incubation temperatures to determine sex. In some
species, this follows the pattern that eggs in extremely
high or low temperatures become male and eggs in
medium temperatures become female.
•Limpet’s position in the stack
 Sex Determination in Drosophila
melanogaster

• genic balance system

• X : A ratio (X, number of X chromosomes;

A, number of haploid sets of autosomes)
Chromosome Complements and Sexual
Phenotype in Drosophila
 The Role of Sex Chromosomes

• The X chromosome contains genetic information

essential for both sexes; at least one copy of an
X is required.

• The male-determining gene is located on the Y

chromosome. A single Y, even in the presence
of several X, still produces a male phenotype.

• The absence of Y results in a female phenotype.

 The male-determining gene in humans

• Sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene

 The male-determining gene in humans

• Androgen-insensitivity syndrome

• Caused by the defective androgen receptor

 X-Linked Characteristics

• X-linked color blindness in humans

 X-Linked Characteristics

• Dosage compensation: the amount of protein

produced by X-linked genes and randomly
inactivated in two sexes