Sex-determination system
A sex-determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual characteristics in an organism. Most sexual organisms have two sexes. In many cases, sex determination is genetic: males and females have different alleles or even different genes that specify their sexual morphology. In animals, this is often accompanied by chromosomal differences. In other cases, sex is determined by environmental variables (such as temperature) or social variables (the size of an organism relative to other members of its population). The details of some sex-determination systems are not yet fully understood.
XX/XY sex chromosomes
The XX/XY sex-determination system is one of the most familiar sex-determination systems and is found in human beings and most other mammals, although at least one monotreme, the platypus, presents a particular sex determination scheme that in some ways resembles that of the ZW sex chromosomes of birds, and it also lacks the SRY gene. Several Arvicolinae (voles and lemmings) and some other rodents are also noted for their unusual sex determination systems.
In the XY sex-determination system, females have two of the same kind of sex chromosome (XX), while males have two distinct sex chromosomes (XY). Some species (including humans) have a gene SRY on the Y chromosome that determines maleness; others (such as the fruit fly) use the presence of two X chromosomes to determine femaleness. The XY sex chromosomes are different in shape and size from each other unlike the autosomes, and are termed allosomes.
The XX/XY sex-determination system is one of the most familiar sex-determination systems and is found in human beings and most other mammals, although at least one monotreme, the platypus, presents a particular sex determination scheme that in some ways resembles that of the ZW sex chromosomes of birds, and it also lacks the SRY gene. Several Arvicolinae (voles and lemmings) and some other rodents are also noted for their unusual sex determination systems.
In the XY sex-determination system, females have two of the same kind of sex chromosome (XX), while males have two distinct sex chromosomes (XY). Some species (including humans) have a gene SRY on the Y chromosome that determines maleness; others (such as the fruit fly) use the presence of two X chromosomes to determine femaleness. The XY sex chromosomes are different in shape and size from each other unlike the autosomes, and are termed allosomes.
FEMALE
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