Females of four mole species of genus Talpa (Insectivora, mammalia) are true hermaphrodites with ovotestes

Sánchez, Antonio García; Bullejos, Mónica; Burgos, Miguel; Hera, Concepción; Stamatopoulos, C.; Guardia, R. Díaz de la; Jiménez, Rafael

doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-2795(199607)44:3<289::aid-mrd2>3.3.co;2-o

Cited by 12 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…Female moles represent the only case of generalized XX true hermaphroditism described so far in mammals, since all of them are fertile despite that they have bilateral ovotestes (gonads with both ovarian and testicular tissue) instead of normal ovaries (Jiménez et al, 1993;Sánchez et al, 1996, Rubenstein et al, 2003. Barrionuevo et al (2004a) studied the gonad development in the Iberian mole, Talpa occidentalis, showing that the testicular portion of the ovotestes in XX moles develops in a testis-like pattern.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spatio-temporal pattern of testis organogenesis in mammals - insights from the mole

Carmona¹,

Lupiáñez²,

Martin³

et al. 2009

Int. J. Dev. Biol.

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Some cellular events are crucial in testis organogenesis, including Sertoli and Leydig cell differentiation, mesonephric cell migration and testis cord formation. These processes are controlled by transcription factors, paracrine signalling and hormones. Using the mole species Talpa occidentalis as an alternative animal model, we report the expression patterns of nine genes during testis differentiation and analyse their implications in the above-mentioned cellular processes. We show that: 1) Sertoli cell differentiation occurs very early and precedes mesonephric cell migration, indicating that the latter is not needed for the endocrine cytodifferentiation of Sertoli cells; 2) the time of Leydig cell differentiation is consistent with the participation of PDGFR-α in promoting the migration and/or proliferation of Leydig cell precursors, and with that of WNT4 signalling in inhibiting Leydig cell differentiation and 3) the formation of the tunica albuginea involves intragonadal cell migration/movement. These results demonstrate that testicular organogenesis in the mole differs from that in the mouse in some particular aspects, thus providing evidence that the spatio-temporal pattern of testis development is not highly conserved during mammalian evolution.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spatio-temporal pattern of testis organogenesis in mammals - insights from the mole

Carmona¹,

Lupiáñez²,

Martin³

et al. 2009

Int. J. Dev. Biol.

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“…Female European moles (XX) also normally possess ovotestes, although the testicular region is non‐functional (Jimenez et al. , 1993; Sanchez et al. , 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Female moles also have epididymes (although poorly developed) and a masculinized clitoris that contains a urethral canal (Jimenez et al. , 1993; Sanchez et al. , 1996; Whitworth et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive dysgenesis in wildlife: a comparative view

2006

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Abnormal reproductive development in males has been linked to environmental contaminant exposure in a wide variety of vertebrates. These include humans, rodent models, and a large number of comparative wildlife species. In human males, abnormal reproductive development can manifest as a suite of symptoms, described collectively as testicular dysgenesis syndrome (TDS). TDS is also described as demasculinization or feminization of the male phenotype. The suite includes cryptorchidism, in situ germ cell carcinoma of the testis and overt testicular cancer, reduced semen quality, and hypospadias. In this paper, we review examples of TDS among comparative species. Wildlife exposed to environmental contaminants are susceptible to some of the same developmental abnormalities and subsequent symptoms as those seen in human males with TDS. There are additional end points, which are also discussed. In some cases, the symptoms are more severe than those normally seen in humans with TDS (i.e. oocytes developing within the testis) because some non-mammalian species exhibit greater innate reproductive plasticity, and are thus more easily feminized. Based on our review, we present an approach regarding the ontogeny of TDS. Namely, we suggest that male susceptibility to the androgynizing influences of environmental contaminants originates in the sexually undifferentiated embryo, which, in almost all species, including humans, consists of bipotential reproductive tissues. These tissues can develop as either male or female and their ultimate direction depends on the environment in which they develop.

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“…Exceptions to this pattern generally appear to have evolved once within a genus. For example, the mole (Talpa; Sanchez et al 1996), which has hermaphroditic females; the wood lemming (Myopus; Fredga et al 1976), which has XY females caused by a mutation on the X chromosome; and ¢nally, a single species of microtine vole (Microtus; Burgos et al 1988), which also has XY females (for a review, see Fredga 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple origins of XY female mice ( genus Akodon ): phylogenetic and chromosomal evidence

Hoekstra

Edwards

2000

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Despite the diversity in sex determination across organisms, theory predicts that the evolution of XY females is rare in mammals due to ¢tness consequences associated with infertility or the loss of YY zygotes. We investigated this hypothesis from a phylogenetic perspective by examining the inter-and intraspeci¢c distribution of Y chromosomes in males and females (XY females) in South American ¢eld mice (Akodon). We found that XY females occurred at appreciable frequencies (10^66%) in at least eight Akodon species, raising the possibility that this system of sex determination has arisen multiple times independently. To determine the number of origins of XY females in Akodon, we constructed a molecular phylogeny of 16 species of Akodon based on mitochondrial DNA control region sequences. Both parsimony and maximum-likelihood reconstruction of ancestral states suggest that multiple steps (gains or losses of XY females) best explain the evolution of XY females, but do not clearly di¡erentiate between single and multiple origins. We then directly compared functional and non-functional Y chromosomes in six species by Southern blot analysis. We found that male and female Y chromosome restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns were identical within species, but always di¡ered between species, providing evidence that XY females arose at least six times within the Akodon lineage. To our knowledge, this pattern in Akodon is the ¢rst documentation of a novel sex-determining system arising multiple times within a tight clade of mammals. In addition, this system provides a clear test of the accuracy of phylogenetic methods to reconstruct ancestral states.

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Females of four mole species of genus Talpa (Insectivora, mammalia) are true hermaphrodites with ovotestes

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

The spatio-temporal pattern of testis organogenesis in mammals - insights from the mole

The spatio-temporal pattern of testis organogenesis in mammals - insights from the mole

Reproductive dysgenesis in wildlife: a comparative view

Multiple origins of XY female mice ( genus Akodon ): phylogenetic and chromosomal evidence

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