Genetic regulation of mammalian gonad development

Eggers, Stefanie; Ohnesorg, Thomas; Sinclair, Andrew H.

doi:10.1038/nrendo.2014.163

Cited by 188 publications

(166 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…All eutherians have the same XY chromosome pair, defined by a male‐dominant testis‐determining gene identified as SRY 36. SRY activates a genetic pathway that promotes differentiation of a bipotential gonad into a testis in the embryo and suppresses ovarian development 37, 38.…”

Section: Mammal Sex Genes and Sex Chromosomes Are Very Stablementioning

confidence: 99%

Did sex chromosome turnover promote divergence of the major mammal groups?

Graves

2016

BioEssays

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Comparative mapping and sequencing show that turnover of sex determining genes and chromosomes, and sex chromosome rearrangements, accompany speciation in many vertebrates. Here I review the evidence and propose that the evolution of therian mammals was precipitated by evolution of the male‐determining SRY gene, defining a novel XY sex chromosome pair, and interposing a reproductive barrier with the ancestral population of synapsid reptiles 190 million years ago (MYA). Divergence was reinforced by multiple translocations in monotreme sex chromosomes, the first of which supplied a novel sex determining gene. A sex chromosome‐autosome fusion may have separated eutherians (placental mammals) from marsupials 160 MYA. Another burst of sex chromosome change and speciation is occurring in rodents, precipitated by the degradation of the Y. And although primates have a more stable Y chromosome, it may be just a matter of time before the same fate overtakes our own lineage.Also watch the video abstract.

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Section: Mammal Sex Genes and Sex Chromosomes Are Very Stablementioning

confidence: 99%

Did sex chromosome turnover promote divergence of the major mammal groups?

Graves

2016

BioEssays

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“…; Rosa-LSL-tdTomato embryos at E10.5, before the onset of testis morphogenesis (Brennan and Capel, 2004;Eggers et al, 2014). The dose (1 mg/mouse) and frequency (one injection) of the tamoxifen treatment induced recombination for ∼24 h, so that all tdTomato-positive cells are derived specifically from the WT1 + cell population between E10.5 and E11.5 (Liu et al, 2015).…”

Section: T2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping lineage progression of somatic progenitor cells in the mouse fetal testis

2016

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Testis morphogenesis is a highly orchestrated process involving lineage determination of male germ cells and somatic cell types. Although the origin and differentiation of germ cells are known, the developmental course specific for each somatic cell lineage has not been clearly defined. Here, we construct a comprehensive map of somatic cell lineage progression in the mouse testis. Both supporting and interstitial cell lineages arise from WT1 + somatic progenitor pools in the gonadal primordium. A subpopulation of WT1 + progenitor cells acquire SOX9 expression and become Sertoli cells that form testis cords, whereas the remaining WT1 + cells contribute to progenitor cells in the testis interstitium. Interstitial progenitor cells diversify through the acquisition of HES1, an indication of Notch activation, at the onset of sex determination. HES1 + interstitial progenitors, through the action of Sertoli cell-derived Hedgehog signals, become positive for GLI1. The GLI1 + interstitial cells eventually develop into two cell lineages: steroid-producing fetal Leydig cells and non-steroidogenic cells. The fetal Leydig cell population is restricted by Notch2 signaling from the neighboring somatic cells. The non-steroidogenic progenitor cells retain their undifferentiated state during fetal stage and become adult Leydig cells in post-pubertal testis. These results provide the first lineage progression map that illustrates the sequential establishment of somatic cell populations during testis morphogenesis.

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“…The checks and balances in the gonad differentiation network are complex, with several gene pairs working to promote or reverse a step (Sekido and Lovell-Badge 2013;Wilhelm et al 2013;Eggers et al 2014). Besides DMRT1, several other genes are dosage sensitive; for instance, too little SOX9 produces XY females (with campomelic dysplasia), but too much produces XX males.…”

Section: The Gonad Differentiation Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Australian mammals contributed to our understanding of sex determination and sex chromosomes

Graves

2016

Aust. J. Zool.

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Abstract. Marsupials and monotremes can be thought of as independent experiments in mammalian evolution. The discovery of the human male-determining gene, SRY, how it works, how it evolved and defined our sex chromosomes, well illustrates the value of comparing distantly related animals and the folly of relying on humans and mice for an understanding of the most fundamental aspects of mammalian biology. The 25th anniversary of the discovery of SRY seems a good time to review the contributions of Australian mammals to these discoveries.The discovery of the mammalian sex determining gene, SRY, was a milestone in the history of human genetics. SRY opened up investigations into the pathway by which the genital ridge (bipotential gonad) becomes a testis. Studies of Australian mammals were important in the story of the discovery of SRY, not only in refuting the qualifications of the first candidate sex-determining gene, but also in confirming the ubiquity of SRY and raising questions as to how it works. Studies in marsupials also led to understanding of how SRY evolved from a gene on an autosome with functions in the brain and germ cells, and to identifying the ancestors of other genes on the human Y. The discovery that platypus have sex chromosomes homologous, not to the human XY, but to the bird ZW, dated the origin of the therian SRY and the XY chromosomes it defined. This led to important new models of how our sex chromosomes function, how they evolved, and what might befall this gene and the Y chromosome it defines.

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Genetic regulation of mammalian gonad development

Cited by 188 publications

References 102 publications

Did sex chromosome turnover promote divergence of the major mammal groups?

Did sex chromosome turnover promote divergence of the major mammal groups?

Mapping lineage progression of somatic progenitor cells in the mouse fetal testis

How Australian mammals contributed to our understanding of sex determination and sex chromosomes

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