Y/X-Chromosome-Bearing Sperm Shows Elevated Ratio in the Left but Not the Right Testes in Healthy Mice

Abstract

The sex chromosomes play central roles in determining the sex of almost all of the multicellular organisms. It is well known that meiosis in mammalian spermatogenesis produces ~50% Y- and ~50% X-chromosome-bearing sperm, a 1:1 ratio. Here we first reveal that the X-chromosome-encoded miRNAs show lower expression levels in the left testis than in the right testis in healthy mice using bioinformatics modeling of miRNA-sequencing data, suggesting that the Y:X ratio could be unbalanced between the left testis and the right testis. We further reveal that the Y:X ratio is significantly elevated in the left testis but balanced in the right testis using flow cytometry. This study represents the first time the biased Y:X ratio in the left testis but not in the right testis is revealed.