An overview of factors influencing sex determination and gonadal development in birds

Abstract Introduction. Pregnant women often create their own image of a child. The ultrasound is able to model and modify this picture. The image of the unborn child develops along with the process of creating the space for the baby on the psychological and emotional level and is continued after the delivery. Aim. The authors of the study made an attempt to evaluate the influence of fetal sex determination during ultrasound in pregnancy on emotional and ‘practical’ experiencing late pregnancy - after the 28th week of its duration. Material and methods. The study included 200 pregnant women. Qualification criteria for the research was the declared awareness of fetal sex confirmed by ultrasound. Among others, factors influencing decision to determine fetal sex, emotional bond with the unborn child after identifying the sex, as well as preparation for birth regarding prognosticated sex were assessed. Results. Nearly all pregnant women wanted to find out the fetal sex, usually claiming that they did so out of curiosity. After they did it, about 2/3 of them stated that the emotional bond with the baby increased and the vast majority of women started preparing layettes for their future babies. Conclusions. Determination of fetal sex during ultrasound improves the relationship between the mother and her future baby. It also enables the woman to prepare for childbirth considering its sex by the purchase of clothes, pram and preparation of layette or baby’s room

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Identification and Functional Analysis of the Sex-Determiner Transformer-2 Homologue in the Freshwater Pearl Mussel, Hyriopsis cumingii

Frontiers in Physiology ◽

10.3389/fphys.2021.704548 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Yayu Wang ◽

Xiaoqiang Wang ◽

Jingyuan Ge ◽

Guiling Wang ◽

Jiale Li

Keyword(s):

Sex Determination ◽

Regulatory Element ◽

Critical Role ◽

Gonadal Development ◽

Close Relative ◽

Regulation Mechanism ◽

Pearl Mussel ◽

Specific Expression ◽

Hyriopsis Cumingii ◽

Sex Regulation

Transformer-2 (Tra-2) is an upstream regulatory element of the sex regulation mechanism in insects and plays a critical role in sex formation. To understand the role of tra-2 in Hyriopsis cumingii, the full-length Hctra-2 (1867 bp) was obtained from the gonads, and sequence alignment with other species showed that HCTRA-2 protein had a highly conserved RRM domain. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the HCTRA-2 protein was a close relative to of the mollusks TRA-2 protein. The qRT-PCR of tissue-specific expression pattern showed that the Hctra-2 was abundant in gonads, and the expression in testes was higher than that in ovaries (p < 0.01). It suggests that Hctra-2 may play a potential regulatory role in gonadal development of H. cumingii. In the early gonadal development, the Hctra-2 expression was the highest on the third day after fertilization and increased slightly from 4 months to 5 months, which may be related to the embryonic sex determination and early gonadal development. In situ hybridization showed that Hctra-2 mRNA signals were present in both male and female gonads. After silencing Hctra-2 by RNAi, the expression levels of Hcfem-1b and Hcdmrt were changed. It is speculated that there may be a certain relationship between them, which plays an important role in the sex regulation of H. cumingii. Our research will help to deepen our understanding of the shellfish sex determination mechanisms.

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Sex Determination and Sex Differentiation

Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences ◽

10.18311/jfds/12/1/2020.12 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 72-78

Author(s):

G. B. Protyusha ◽

Sivapathasundharam B.

Keyword(s):

Sex Determination ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Morphological Changes ◽

Human Life ◽

Sex Differentiation ◽

Genetic Regulation ◽

Gonadal Development ◽

Gonadal Hormones ◽

Defining Moment ◽

Sexual Determination

Sex determination is arguably the most defining moment of our lives, the point where we inherit X or Y chromosome from our father. This initiates a cascade of events that sets in a train of morphological changes, genetic regulations and molecular mechanisms. Following this, our fate is further sealed during sex differentiation and gonadal development owing to the action of sex-specific gonadal hormones. Therefore, the profoundly divergent journeys of male and female lives are decided just by the toss of a genetic coin. The existence of a third gender is also an undeniable aspect of our society. The understanding of the functioning and genetic regulation of the complex process of sexual determination and differentiation is pivotal in comprehension of the basis of human life. Any deviation from the usual mechanisms in the critical stages of development leads to disorders of sexual differentiation leading to sexual ambiguity among individuals. This review discusses the mechanisms that contribute to female and male sex determination and gonadal development, in an attempt to understand the basics of human sex.

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Transcriptomics analysis revealing candidate genes and networks for sex differentiation of Yesso scallop(Patinopecten yessoensis)

10.21203/rs.2.9988/v3 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Liqing Zhou ◽

Zhihong Liu ◽

Yinghui Dong ◽

Xiujun Sun ◽

Biao Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sex Determination ◽

Candidate Genes ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Sex Differentiation ◽

Northeast Asia ◽

Gonadal Development ◽

Patinopecten Yessoensis ◽

Mizuhopecten Yessoensis ◽

Kegg Pathways ◽

Yesso Scallop

Abstract Background:The Yesso scallop, Patinopecten (Mizuhopecten) yessoensis, is a commercially important bivalve in the coastal countries of Northeast Asia. It has complex modes of sex differentiation, but knowledge of the mechanisms underlying this sex determination and differentiation is limited. Results:In this study, the gonad tissues from females and males at three developmental stages were used to investigate candidate genes and networks for sex differentiation via RNA-Req. A total of 901,980,606 high quality clean reads were obtained from 18 libraries, of which 417 expressed male-specific genes and 754 expressed female-specific genes. Totally, 10,074 genes differentially expressed in females and males were identified. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) revealed that turquoise and green gene modules were significantly positively correlated with male gonads, while coral1 and black modules were significantly associated with female gonads. The most important gene for sex determination and differentiation was Pydmrt1, which was the only gene discovered that determined the male sex phenotype during early gonadal differentiation. Enrichment analyses of GO terms and KEGG pathways revealed that genes involved in metabolism, genetic and environmental information processes or pathways are sex-biased. Forty-nine genes in the five modules involved in sex differentiation or determination were identified and selected to construct a gene co-expression network and a hypothesized sex differentiation pathway. Conclusions: The current study focused on screening genes of sex differentiation in Yesso scallop, highlighting the potential regulatory mechanisms of gonadal development in P. yessoensis. Our data suggested that WCGNA can facilitate identification of key genes for sex differentiation and determination. Using this method, a hypothesized P. yessoensis sex determination and differentiation pathway was constructed. In this pathway, Pydmrt1 may have a leading function.

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