Sex Determination - A Hypothesis Based On Noncoding Dna

Chandra, HS (1985) Sex Determination - A Hypothesis Based On Noncoding Dna. In: Proceedings of National Academy Sciences, 82 (4). pp. 1165-1169.

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Abstract

Certain recent models of sex determination in mammals, Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, and snakes are examined in the light of the hypothesis that the relevant genetic regulatory mechanisms are similar and interrelated. The proposed key element in each of these instances is a noncoding DNA sequence, which serves as a high-affinity binding site for a repressor-like molecule regulating the activity of a major "sex-determining" gene. On this basis it is argued that, in several eukaryotes, (i) certain DNA sequences that are sex-determining are noncoding, in the sense that they are not the structural genes of a sex-determining protein; (ii) in some species these noncoding sequences are present in one sex and absent in the other, while in others their copy number or accessibility to regulatory molecules is significantly unequal between the two sexes; and (iii) this inequality determines whether the embryo develops into a male or a female.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Proceedings of National Academy Sciences
Publisher:	National Academy Sciences
Additional Information:	The copyright of this article belongs to National Academy Sciences.
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Microbiology & Cell Biology
Date Deposited:	30 Nov 2009 06:55
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:40
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/22044

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