Cytogenetics and sex determination in man and mammals

Abstract

SummarySex in man and probably throughout the class mammalia is normally determined by the presence of a Y chromosome (male) or its absence (female). The presence of genetic loci on both the long and the short arm of the X chromosome in double dose appears to be essential for the development of mature functional ovaries in the human female though a single X suffices in the female mouse.The development of masculine genital anatomy and phenotype is a consequence of prior formation of testes. In the absence of gonads of either kind, female internal and external genitalia are formed but secondary sex development fails. In rare human families a mutant gene suppresses the development of male external genitalia in 46, XY embryos but permits the development of testes and male internal genitalia. The external phenotype is normal female (syndrome of testicular feminization). A sex-linked mutant gene in the mouse has a similar effect.The locus or loci directly concerned with male development might lie wholly on the Y chromosome or might be located on another chromosome or chromosomes. In the latter case it (or they) must be repressed in the female and normally activated by a locus or loci on the Y chromosome in the male. Present evidence does not permit the exclusion of either possibility.