The Genetics and Biology of Sex Determination

About this book

Nature employs a wide variety of sex determining mechanisms and it is only comparatively recently that the tools have become available for these to be explored at the cellular and molecular levels. A major landmark was the discovery in 1990 of the SRY gene and the subsequent demonstration of its key role in triggering male sex determination in transgenic mice. This book reviews and discusses our current understanding of the molecular genetic pathways of sex determination, with special emphasis on vertebrates. It features comparisons with other modes of sex determination, consideration of the biology of sexual development and discussion of the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms. By bringing together an international and interdisciplinary group of experts who study many different aspects of the problem, the book highlights much new and exciting work in this area and serves to identify and stimulate promising new research directions.

Contents

Chair's Introduction - R. Short. Sex-determining genes in mice - building pathways - R. Lovell-Badge, et al.; Early gonadal development - exploring Wtl and Sox9 function - J. Guo, et al.; General Discussion I - The mechanism of action of SRY; Anomalies of human sexual development - clinical aspects and genetic analysis - E. Vilain; The molecular action of testis-determining factors SRY and SOX 9 - V. Harley; Concerted regulation of gonad differentiation by transcription factors and growth factors - T. Suzuki, et al.; General Discussion II; Evolution of the testis-determining gene - the rise and fall of SRY - Marshall Graves; A Comparative Analysis of vertebrate Sex Determination - A. Sinclair, et al.; Invertebrates may not be so different after all - D. Zarkower; The hormonal control of sexual development - M. Renfree, et al.; Genetic studies of MIS signalling in sexual development - S. Jamin, et al.; Social regulation of the brain - sex, size and status - R. Fernald; The battle of the sexes - opposing pathways in sex determination - H. Hung-Chang Yao, et al; General Discussion III - True Hermaphroditism and the Formation of the Ovotestis; The evolution of chromosomal sex determination - B. Charlesworth; The molecular genetic jigsaw puzzle of vertebrate sex determination and its missing pieces - G. Scherer; Expression-based strategies for discover of genes involved in testis and ovary development - P. Koopman, et al.; Final General Discussion; Index of Contributors ;Subject Index

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