Mohammad Hasan Post Graduate

College, Jaunpur

Affiliated To:- VBSPU,Jaunpur(U.P.)

Session :2023-2024
Department of Zoology
Faculty of Science
Research in Zoology
The Study Of SEX DETERMINATION AND SEX
LINKED INHERITANCE

Supervisor: Research Scholar:

Dr.K.K. Singh Shumaila Kafeel
(Asst. Prof. Zoology Dept.) M.Sc. 2 Semester
(Mohd. Hasan P.G. Co.,Jnp) E.NO: PU18/138374
Roll NO.: 24620093873
 (CERTIFICATE)
This is to certify that "Shumaila Kafeel" a student of
zoology department M.Sc. (Second Semester), has
successfully complete the research on the below mentioned
project under the guidance of (Teachers of Zoology
Department) during the year 2023-2024 in partial fulfilment
of " THE STUDY OF SEX DETERMINATION AND SEX LINKED
INHERITANCE ".

Principal

Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan

Mo. Hasan P. G. college
Jaunpur

Supervisor Signature Research Scholor

Dr.K.K. Singh Shumaila Kafeel

(Zoology Department) M.Sc.(zoology) II
Semester
 (ACKNOWLEDGMENT)
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my
Teacher of Zoology Departmet Dr.K.K. Singh for his able
guidance and support in completing this project.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to our teachers of
zoology department, Dr. Satish Chandra Dubey, Dr.,
Pushpanjali Singh, Dr. Vandana Singh, Dr. Dharmendra
Jaiswal, for providing me with all the required facilities.
I would expected thanks to Mr. Javed (Lab Assistant)
Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and friends
who helped me a lot in finishing this project within the
limited time. Just because of them I was able to create my
project and make it good and enjoyable experience.
Thanks again to all who helped me during the project.

Department of Zoology Shumaila Kafeel

Mo. Hasan P.G.College, Jaunpur M.Sc.II Semester
 (PREFACE)

In the preparation of this project of zoology on the topic

" THE STUDY OF SEX DETERMINATION AND SEX LINKED
INHERITANCE ", I have precisely demarcated all the
important points. I have made my best possible efforts
to remove all the errors.

It is a great pleasure for me to thank all those valuable

suggestions that have been given to me by Dr. K.K.
Singh Sir. I must thank the almighty for this inspiration
and guidance as well as my parents, teachers who
directed me to complete this project file.
 (CONTENT)

1. Introduction

2. Terminologies and Basic concept

3. Definition of sex Determination

4. Mechanicam of sex Determination

5. Sex Differentiation in mammal

6. Sex Determination in Human 7.Characteristics

of Sex linked inheritance

8. Defference Between Autosomes and Allosomes

9.Summary

10. Reference
TERMINOLOGIES AND BASIC CONCEPTS
Sexes
Are defined by mutual incompatibility between the same mating type Mutual
incompatibilities between the same mating

Type
Anisogamy (i.e. the production of large and small gametes).

Female gametes (eggs): Few, large, immobile, include resources.

Male gametes (sperm): Numerous, small, motile.

For most diploid eukaryotes, sexual reproduction is the only mechanism

resulting in new members of a species.

Meiosis in the sexual organs of parents produces haploid gametes, which unite
during fertilization to restore the diploid phenotype in the offspring.

Dioecious
The majority of animals exist as one of two sexes, with males producing sperm
and females producing eggs.

OR

Unisexual dioecious gonochoric: Refer to an individual who possesses only

male or female sexual organs, not both.

Monoecious
All individuals of a species look alike and produce eggs and sperm. Common in
invertebrates. Individuals with both gonads are hermaphrodites.

OR

Bisexual monoecious hermaphroditic: Refer to individuals who possess both

male and female reproductive organs.
Intersex:
Usually reserved for individuals of intermediate or indeterminate sexual
differentiation. This state is not normal and the affected individuals are often
sterile

Sexual dimorphism:
In many species, the differences between sexes are not limited to the
reproductive organs, but extend to other characteristics such as size,
ornaments, and body shape.

For most organisms, sexual reproduction requires some form ofsexual

differentiation.

In higher forms of life, this is manifested as phenotypic dimorphism between

males and females of a species.

Traditionally, the symbol designates male

And the symbol designates female

Primary Sex Characteristics

Refers to the gonads (ovaries and testes) and associated structures i.e. sex
organs.

Secondary Sex Characteristics:

Refer to the overall appearance of the organism, external genitalia and
mammary glands

Homogametic:
Gender of an organism due to presence of two of the same sex chromosome.
(E.g. XX)

Heterogametic:
Gender of an organism due to presence of two different sex chromosomes
(E.g. XY) in mammals, females are the homogametic sex, and males are the
heterogametic sex
Lyon hypothesis
(Proposed by Mary Lyon)

Genes in Dosage compensation in mammalian females.

Random inactivation of one X chromosome in females equalizes the activity of

X- linked males and females.

Barr body. A densely staining mass in the somatic nuclei of mammalian

females an inactivated X chromosome tightly coiled.

Sex-linked traits
Are traits controlled by genes located on the sex chromosome?

Sex-influenced traits
Traits controlled by autosomal genes that are usually dominant in one sex but
recessive in the other sex.

Sex limited traits.

Genes that produce a phenotype in only one sex.

Example: Precocious puberty in heterozygous males but not in heterozygous

females.
Dosage compensation
Dosage compensation is the mechanism that keeps females (XX) from
expressing twice as much of X-chromosome a mechanism that regulates the
expression of sex- linked gene products. OR chromosome genes as males (XY),
who have only one X chromosome.

Both sexes are rendered roughly equal by inactivation of one X chromosome in

females.

Sex differentiation:
Subsequent events that ultimately produce either the male or female sexual
phenotype.

Sex determination

Definition
Sex determination is the natural event by which an individual of a dioecious
species becomes male or female. There are two main mechanisms for sex
determination. Which are environmental and genetic determination
respectively. Or.

Mechanisms or Developmental decisions that occur during embryogenesis

HISTORY.

Aristotle (ca. 335 В.С.):

Sex is determined by "the heat of the male partner during intercourse"

Vesalius (1543).
Held the same view

During the 1600s and 1700s:

Females were seen as producing eggs that could transmit parental traits, and
the physiology of sex traits, began to be studied.
Until 20th century.
The environment-temperature and nutrients, in particular-was believed to be
important.

The Factors favoring the storage of energy and nutrients predisposed one to
have female offspring, whereas factors favoring utilization of energy and
nutrients influenced one to have male offspring. (Geddes and Thomson, 1890).

In 1905:
Establishment correlation (in insects) of the female sex with XX sex
chromosomes and the male sex with XY or XO chromosomes. (Stevens;
Wilson).

•A specific nuclear component is responsible for directing the development of

the sexual phenotype

Evidence accumulated that sex determination occurs by nuclear inheritance

rather than by environmental influence.

Nowadays:

Both environmental and internal of sex determination mechanisms can

operate in different species.

Mechanism of sex determination:-

Sexual reproduction is the formation of offspring that are genetically distinct

from their parents; most often, two parents contribute genes to their offspring
and the genes are assorted into new combinations through meiosis.

Among most eukaryotes, sexual reproduction consists of two processes that

lead to an alternation of haploid and diploid cells: meiosis produces haploid
gametes (spores in plants), and fertilization produces diploid zygotes.

The term sex refers to sexual phenotype. Most organ-isms have only two
sexual phenotypes: male and female.

The fundamental difference between males and females is gamete size: males
produce small gametes; females produce relatively larger gametes
The mechanism by which sex is established is termed sex determination. We
define the sex of an individual organism in reference to its phenotype.
Sometimes an individual organism has chromosomes or genes that are
normally associated with one sex but a morphology corresponding to the
opposite sex.

Sex determination mechanisms include.

A. Chromosomal determination mechanism
B. Genetically controlled sex determination.
C. Hormonally controlled sex determination.
D. Environmentally controlled sex determination.
• f Sex determination is associated with sex chromosomes that are
different between male and female individuals. Many species have

Chromosomal sex-determining systems:

XX-XY system
XX-XO system
And ZZ-ZW system.
• Genetic sex determination; sex is determined at fertilization by the
combination of genes that the zygote receives.

• Environmental sex determination; in some species, sex is determined after

fertilization by environmental factors (temperature, population size, or sex of
others).

Hormonal determination refers to the extent of the body coordination system

and its effects.

Types
A) Chromosomal Sex-Determining Systems
The chromosome theory of inheritance (states that genes are located on
chromosomes, which serve as vehicles for the segregation of genes in meiosis.
Definitive proof of this theory was provided by the discovery that the sex of
certain insects is determined by the presence or absence of particular
chromosomes.
In 1891, Hermann Henking noticed a peculiar structure in the nuclei of cells
from male insects. Understanding neither its function nor its relation to sex, he
called this structure the X body.

Later, Clarence E. McClung studied the X body in grasshoppers and

recognized that it was a chromosome.

McClung called it the accessory chromosome, but it eventually became known

as the X chromosome, from Henking's original designation.

McClung observed that the cells of female grasshoppers had one more
chromosome than the number of chromosomes in the cells of male
grasshoppers, and he concluded that accessory chromosomes played a role in
sex determination.

In 1905, Nettie Stevens and Edmund Wilson demonstrated that, in

grasshoppers and other insects, the cells of females have two X chromosomes,
whereas the cells of males have a single X.

In some insects, they counted the same number of chromosomes in the cells of
males and females but saw that one chromosome pair was different.

Two X chromosomes were found in female cells, whereas a single X

chromosome plus a smaller chromosome, which they called Y, was found in
male cells.

Stevens and Wilson also showed that the X and Y chromosomes separate into
different cells in sperm formation; half of the sperm receive an X chromosome
and the other half receive a Y.

• All egg cells produced by the female in meiosis receive one X chromosome. A
sperm containing a Y chromosome unites with an X- bearing egg to produce an
XY male, whereas a sperm containing an X chromosome unites with an X-
bearing egg to produce an XX female.

This distribution of X and Y chromosomes in sperm accounts for the

1:1 sex ratio observed in most Dioecious organisms Because sex is inherited
like other genetically deter-mined characteristics, Stevens and Wilson's
discovery that

Sex is associated with the inheritance of a particular chromo-some also

demonstrated that genes are on chromosomes.
• As Stevens and Wilson found for insects, sex in many organisms is
determined by a pair of chromosomes, the sex chromosomes, which

differ between males and female

Chromosomal determination is found in,

XX/X0 mechanism,

XX/XY mechanism,

ZW/ZZ mechanism,

B) Genetic Sex Determination

In some plants, fungi, and protozoans, sex is genetically determined, but there
are no obvious differences in the chromosomes of males and females there are
no sex chromosomes. These organisms have genic sex determination:

• Genotypes at one or more loci determine the sex of an individual plant,

fungus, or protozoan. It is important to understand that, even in chromosomal
sex-determining systems, sex is actually determined by individual genes.

For example, in mammals, a gene (SRY discussed later in this chapter) located
on the Y chromo-some determines the male phenotype. In both genic sex
determination and chromosomal sex determination, sex is controlled by
individual genes; the difference is that, with chromosomal sex determination,
the chromosomes also look different in males and females.

C) Hormonal determination

Sex determination is not determined by hormones but they influences the

secondary characters which can be termed as differentiation.

All hormonally controlled sex development beginning at embryogenesis and

progressing into adulthood. This includes sex characteristics such as external
genitalia, breasts, body build, and behavior.
Sex control development of the brain hormones

Males and females of any species usually differ in complex behaviors such as
mating, parenting, and aggression. How does this occur?

For each sex hormone, there is a unique distribution of receptors throughout

the brain.

Androgen receptor is concentrated in areas that control aggression and

mating.

Estrogen receptors are concentrated in areas that control ovulation.

Songbirds are a good example. Male birds attract females by singing, and the
songs are learned from older males. If male birds are castrated, the amount
and quality of their singing decreases.

If they are subsequently treated with testosterone, singing resumes. Specific

areas in the brain of male birds that are associated with singing are larger than
in female birds.

Interesting effects of sex hormones are seen in mammals that produce litters
of multiple offspring. The growing fetuses exchange sex hormones via the
placental circulation.

Females that develop between 2 males (2M females) are exposed to higher
levels of testosterone than siblings that develop next to 1 or no males.

These 2M females have masculinized genitals, have shorter reproductive

cycles, and are less attractive to males.

The converse effects are observed in males that develop next to 2 females.
They have smaller seminal vesicles and are less aggressive than OF males

D) Environmental Sex Determination

• Genes have had a role in all of the examples of sex determination discussed
thus far. However, in a number of organ-isms, sex is determined fully or in part
by environmental Factors.
  A fascinating example of environmental sex determination is seen in the
marine mollusk Crepidula fornicate,
 Slipper limpets live in stacks, one on top of another. Each limpet begins
life as a swimming larva. The first larva to settle on a solid, unoccupied
substrate develops into a female limpet. It then produces chemicals that
attract other larvae, which settle on top of it.
 These larvae develop into males, which then serve as mates for the
limpet Below.
 After a period of time, the males on top develop into females and, in
turn, attract additional larvae that settle on top of the stack, develop
into males, and serves.
 Environmental factors are also important in determining sex in many
reptiles. Although most snakes and lizards have sex chromosomes, the
sexual phenotype of many turtles, crocodiles, and alligators is affected
by temperature during embryonic development. In turtles, for example.
 Warm temperatures produce females during certain times of the year,
whereas cool temperatures produce males. In alligators, the reverse is
true.

Sex differentiation in mammals.

Sex differentiation is the Subsequent events that ultimately produce either the
single phenotype.

Primary sex differentiation: mammalian sex determination is controlled by the

SRY gene. SRY expression induces testes, lack of SRY results inovaries.

Secondary sex differentiation: refers to all hormonally controlled sex

development beginning at embryogenesis and progressing into adulthood. This
includes sex characteristics such as external genitalia, breasts, body build, and
behavior.

Most sex hormones are steroids derived from cholesterol. These include
androgens (testosterone and DHT) and female sex hormones (estrogen and
progesterone).

The formation of male and female reproductive structures depends on:

  Gene action.
 Interactions within the embryo.
 Interactions with other embryos in theuterus.
 Interactions with the maternal environment.

The role of sex chromosomes.

The phenotypes associated with sex-chromosome anomalies allow us to make

several inferences about the role of sex chromosomes in human sex
determination.

 Genetic sex (XX or XY) is determined by the type of sperm (X-bearing or

Y-bearing) that fertilizes the egg.
 Early gonads have potential to be either ovaries or testes for 6 weeks
 Sex-determining region of the Y chromosome (SRY) is a gene producing
a protein which causes the middle of the neuter gonads to become
testes.
 If testes develop, they begin to produce androgens like testosterone.
 If this gene is not present, the outside of the neuter gonads turn into
ovaries.

Levels of differentiation.

The chromosomal sex of an individual (XX or XY) can differ from the phenotypic
sex

Sex of an individual is defined at three levels

Chromosomal sex or genetic sex. I.e. xx or xy

Gonadal sex i.e. Testis and ovaries.

Phenotypic sex i.e. male and female.

Sex Determination in Humans

Humans, like Drosophila, have XX-XY sex determination, but, in humans, the
presence of a gene (SRY) on the Y chromosomes determines maleness.

The phenotypes that result from abnormal numbers of sex chromosomes,

which arise when the sex chromosomes do not segregate properly in meiosis
or mitosis, illustrate the importance of the Y chromosomes in human sex
determination.

Example.

Turner syndrome Persons who have Turner syndrome are female and often
have underdeveloped secondary sex characteristics. This syndrome is seen in 1
of 3000 female births.

Affected women are frequently short and have a low hairline, a relatively
broad chest, and folds of skin on the neck. Their intelligence is usually normal.
Most women who have Turner syndrome are sterile.

In 1959, Charles Ford used new techniques to study human chromosomes and
discovered that cells from a 14-year-old girl with Turner syndrome had only a
single X chromosome. This chromo-some complement is usually referred to as
XO.

There are no known cases in which a person is missing both X chromosomes,

an indication that at least one X chromosomes is necessary for human
development. Presumably embryos missing both Xs spontaneously abort in the
early stages of development.

The male-determining gene in humans

The Y chromosomes in humans and all other mammals is of paramount

importance in producing a male phenotype. However, scientists discovered a
few rare XX males whose cells apparently lack a Y chromosome.

For many years, these males presented an enigma: How could a male
phenotype exist without a Y chromosome? Close examination eventually
revealed a small part of the Y chromosome attached to another chromosome.
This finding indicates that it is not the entire Y chromosome that determines
maleness in humans; rather, it is a gene on the Y chromosome.

Early in development, all humans possess undifferentiated gonads and both

male and female reproductive ducts.

Then, about 6 weeks after fertilization, a gene on the Y chromosomes becomes

active. By an unknown mechanism, this gene causes the neutral gonads to
develop into testes, which begin to secrete two hormones: testosterone and
Mullerian- inhibiting substance.

Testosterone induces the development of male characteristics, and Mullerian-

inhibiting substance causes the degeneration of the female reproductive ducts.

In the absence of this male-determining gene, the neutral gonads become

ovaries, and female features develop.

The male-determining gene in humans, called the sex-determining region Y

(SRY) gene, was discovered in 1990

This gene is found in XX males and is missing from XY females; it is also found
on the Y chromosome of other mammals.

Definitive proof that SRY is the male-determining gene came when scientists
placed a copy of this gene into XX mice by means of genetic engineering. The
XX mice that received this gene, although sterile, developed into anatomical
males.

The SRY gene encodes a protein called a transcription factor that stimulates
sex differentiation.
Sex linked inheritance.

It is revealed by the Mendel discovered from his crosses Sex linked inheritance
is defined as,

The characteristics that inherited from the parental generation to the progeny
in true breeding of pure lines regardless of the phenotype of parents.

Sex linked characteristics are always depend upon the sex chromosomes of
parents and the coordination frequencies of the genes respectively.

It is evidently shown among pea plants.

Explanation.

A major extension of these Mendelian principles is the pat-tern of inheritance

exhibited by sex-linked characteristics, characteristics determined by genes
located on the sex chromosomes.

Genes located on the autosomal Genes on the X chromosome determine X-

linked characteristics.

Genes on the Y chromosome determine Y-linked characteristics. Because the Y

chromosome of many organisms contains little genetic information,

Most sex-linked characteristics are X linked.

Males and females differ in their sex chromosomes; so the pattern of

inheritance for sex-linked characteristics differs from that exhibited by the

Chromosomes.

Sex-linked traits are traits controlled by genes located on the sex chromosome.
For example

Color blindness and hemophilia.

X linked inheritance,

The x-linked type sex inheritance is performed by those genes which are
localized in the non-homologous section of x chromosome and that have no
corresponding allele on Y-chromosome.

The x linked genes are commonly known as sex linked genes.

Y linked inheritance,

The y-linked type sex inheritance is performed by those genes which are
localized in the non-homologous section of Y-chromosome and that have no
corresponding allele on X-chromosome.

The x linked genes are commonly known as holandric genes (Greek. Complete
man)

XY linked inheritance

The xy-linked type sex inheritance is performed by those genes which are
localized on the homologous section of both xand Y-chromosome.
Characteristics of sex linked inheritance.

The x linked genes exhibits following characteristic pattern of inheritance.

The differential region of each chromosome contain genes that have no

counterpart on the other kind of chromosome which may be dominant or
recessive.

Genes in male are homozygous.

The x-linked recessive genes show the following two more peculiar features:
crisscross pattern of inheritance (i.e., in crisscross inheritance, a X-linked
recessive gene is transmitted from P1 male parent (father) to F2 male progeny
(grandson) through its F1 heterozygous females (daughters), which are called
carriers) and different F1 and F2 results (ratios) in the reciprocal crosses.

The X-linked recessives can genes located on the autosomal Genes on the X
chromosome determine X-linked characteristics.

1) The X-linked recessive be detected in human pedigrees (also in

Drosophila) through the following clues: phenotype is usually found
more frequently in the male than in the female. This is because an
affected female can result only when both mother and father bear the X-
linked recessive allele (e.g. XAX X Y), whereas an affected male can result
when only the mother carries the gene. Further if the recessive X-liked
gene is very rare, almost all observed cases will occur in male.

2) Usually the affected male characters is transferred to daughters. None

any son is affected.

3) Dominant x linked genes are frequently found in females.

X-Linked White Eyes in Drosophila

The first person to explain sex-linked inheritance was American biologist

Thomas Hunt Morgan. He began his career as an embryologist, but the
discovery of Mendel's principles inspired him to begin conducting genetic
experiments, initially on mice and rats.
X. linked recessive disorder Red Green Colour Blindness

 Inability to distinguish between red and green

 A red green colour blind person does not see the number 29 on the right
 In humans normal vision (C) is completely dominant to red-green colour
blindness (c).
In 1909, Morgan switched to Drosophila melanogaster; a year later, he
discovered among the flies of his laboratory colony a single male that
possessed white eyes, in stark contrast with the red eyes of normal fruit flies.

This fly had a tremendous effect on the future of genetics and on Morgan's
career as a biologist.

To investigate the inheritance of the white-eyed characteristic in fruit flies,

Morgan systematically carried out a series of genetic crosses.

First, he crossed pure-breeding, red-eyed females with his white-eyed male,

producing F1 progeny of which all had red eyes (In fact, Morgan found 3 white-
eyed males among the 1237 progeny, but he assumed that the white eyes
were due to new mutations.)

Morgan's results from this initial cross were consistent with Mendel's
principles: a cross between a homozygous dominant individual and a
homozygous recessive individual produces heterozygous offspring exhibiting
the dominant trait.

His results suggested that white eyes are a simple recessive trait. However,
when Morgan crossed the F1flies with one another, he found that all the
female F2 flies' possessed red eyes but that half the male F2 flies had red eyes
and the other half had white eyes. This finding was clearly not the expected
result for a simple recessive trait, which should appear in ½ of both male and
female F2offspring.

To explain this unexpected result, Morgan proposed that the locus affecting
eye color is on the X chromosome (i.e., eye color is X linked). He recognized
that the eye-color alleles are present only on the X chromosome; no
homologous allele is present on the Y chromosome. Because the cells of
females possess two X chromosomes, females can be homozygous or
heterozygous for the eye-color alleles.
The cells of males, on the other hand, possess only a single X chromosome and
can carry only a single eye-color allele.
Males therefore cannot be either homozygous or heterozygous but are said to
be hemizygous for X-linked loci. After a series of experiments morgon realized
that white eyes in flies are x linked.
Difference between Autosomes and Allosomes
Mechanism of Sex Determination

Three important mechanisms:

(1) Sex characters:
 Primary: gametes
 Secondary: all genitalia
(2) Chromosomal sex determination
 In a diploid individual, there are 2n 2
autosomes - and two sex-chromosomes.
Three types of chromosomal sex
determination:
(a) Sex determination by allosomes
(b) Diploid-haploid system of sex
determination
(c) Genic balance system.
(a) Allosomal Sex Determination
Allosomes or sex chromosomes are generally
of X and Y types, but in some birds they are of
Z and W types.
Sex with similar type of sex chromosomes
(XX) is known as homogametic sex and with
dissimilar type of sex
chromosomes (XY) as heterogametic sex.
There are four different systems of allosomal
sex determination:
(1) XX-XY female-male system
(2) XX-XO female-male system
(3) XO-XX female-male system, and
(4) ZW-ZZ female-male system
1. XX-XY [Female-Male] System
(Drosophila, man and some other mammals)
 In this system female has two X
chromosomes, is homogametic and
produces only one type of gamete, i.e.,Χ.
 The male has one X and one Y
chromosome, is heterogametic and
produces two types of gametes, viz., X and
Y.
 Union of X ovum with X sperm leads to
development of female (XX) sex. If X ovum
units with Y sperm, it produces male (XY)
sex.
2. XX-XO [Female-Male] System
(Grasshoppers and many orthoptera and
hemiptera insects)
 In this system, female has double X
chromosomes (XX) and male has single X
chromosome (XO).
 Female is homogametic and produces all
the eggs with X chromosome.
 The male is heterogametic, which
produces sperms half of which have X
chromosome and other half have none.
 Union of egg with sperm having X
chromosome will give rise to female sex
and with sperm having none results in
development of male sex.
3. ZW ZZ [Female-Male] System
(Birds, butterflies and moths)
 Female is heterogametic and produces
two types of gametes - Z and W types.
 Male is homogametic and produces all
the sperms of same type carrying one
Z chromosome.
 Union of Z sperm with ovum having Z
chromosome gives rise to male and
union of Z sperm with ovum carrying
W chromosome leads to the
development of female sex
4. XO-XX [Female-Male] System
(Very few species of insects like Fumea)
 In this system, female has only one X
chromosome and hence is
heterogametic.
 As a result of meiosis, 50% eggs of
such female carry an X chromosome
and remaining 50% have none.
 On the other hand, male has two X
chromosomes and produces all the
sperms with one X chromosome. Thus,
male sex is homogametic.
 Union of X sperm with ovum having X
chromosome gives rise to male sex
and union of X sperm with ovum
having none leads to development of
female.
(b) Diploid-Haploid (Female-Male) System
(Honey bees, ants and termites)

 In honey bees, the females have diploid (2n

32) = chromosomes and drones or males have
haploid (n = 16) chromosomes.
 Females are - queen and workers.
 The females which feed on royal jelly develop
into queen. The queen is fertile and workers
are sterile females.
 The queen produces haploid eggs. However,
haploid male bees produce haploid sperms by
mitosis rather than by meiosis. Union of egg
with sperm gives rise to diploid larvae which
become female.
(c) Genic Balance System
 This system was developed by Bridges (1922) in
Drosoplaila.
 According to this theory "the sex of an individual is
determined by a balance between the genes for
maleness and those for femaleness present in the
individual,"
 Genic balance theory states that sex determining
genes are present on both X chromosome as well
as autosomes.

•The male sex determining genes are present on

autosomes and female sex determining genes on X
chromosome.

 The sex expression is determined by the balance of

genes on autosomes and X chromosome.
 In other words, the expression of sex depends on
the ratio of X chromosomes to that of autosomes.
This ratio is represented as X/A ratio.
 The genic balance is governed by X/A index.
 Individuals with index of 1 develop into female and
those with sex index of 0.5 into male.
 If the sex index is between 1 and 0.5, the resulting
individual will be neither a female nor a male, but
have an intermediate sex expression and is called
inter sex.
 The sex index of 1.5, which is higher than the sex
index of normal female gives rise to super female.
 A sex index of 0.33, which is lower than the sex
index of normal male gives rise to super male.
Sex Index = Number of X chromosomes Number of
Autosomal sets = X A

 Individuals with the sex index of 1.0 are normal

females (XX: Diploid female, XXX: Triploid fly,
XXXX: Tetraploid fly)
 Flies having the sex index of 0.5 are normal males
(XO diploid flies, XXOO: Tetraploid fly)

(2) Monogenic Sex Determination

 Expression of sex is influenced by a single gene.
 In Drosophila, a transformer gene (tra) which is
present on autosomes plays an important role in
sex expression.
  Transformer gene is recessive and hence does
not have any effect in heterozygous condition
(Tra/tra) on either sex.
 In homozygous condition (tra/tra), this gene
transforms the normal diploid females into
sterile males.

(3) Environmental Sex Determination

Sex determination in some organisms such as sea

worm (Bonellia and Dinophilus) and horse tail plant is
governed by environmental conditions and also
includes some hormonal effects.

In Bonellia, the larvae which remain free in the sea

water and settle on the sea bottom are differentiated
into females while those larvae which settle on the
proboscis of female develop into tiny males.
  A similar SRY gene is found in human. The gene is
probably present on autosome and transforms the
normal male (XY) into female.
 Such males have feminine (female) characters.
They have internal degenerated testes and are
sterile. This condition is known as testicular
feminization.
 Similar effects of single recessive gene on
expression of sex have been found in some other
animals such as goats, pigs, dogs, etc.

Incubation temperature:
In turtle, Alligators and Crocodiles

Incubation temperature of egg:

 High (30-35°C): Female

 Low (23-28°C): male
Refrences:-
1- S. Ohno Sex Chromosomes and Sex-linked Genes

by Monographs on Endocrinology.

2- Sex-linked inheritance in drosophila by Thomas

hunt morgan,Calvin B.Bridges.

3- Inheritance of Chromosomes, Sex Determination,

and the Human Genome: A New Paradigm by Sage

Journals.

4- Developmental Biology by (NIH).

5- Chapter 12: Sex-linked Inheritance – Introductory

Biology.

6- Sex-Linked Inheritance in Drosophila by Thomas Hunt

Morgan.

7- Sex-linked Inheritance by Biology LibreTexts.

8- Genetics,X-Linked Inheritance – StatPearls by National

Institutes of Health (NIH).