The Y chromosome carries a gene called SRY, which turns on male genes on other chromosomes.
The Amami spiny rat, one of the species that lack a Y chromosome and the Sry.
As per the press release, under normal conditions, the Sry gene on the Y chromosome triggers the formation of the testes. However, the Sry gene, along with the Y chromosome, has vanished in a small number of rodent species.
1, 2
By upregulating Sox9 in the absence of Sry, the researchers found that the sequence duplication in Amami spiny rats was a novel regulatory factor.
Comments are closed.