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The Genetic Control of Male Infertility and Understanding the Y Chromosome

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Fundamentals of Male Infertility

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Abstract

The Y chromosome has been a very rich area for beginning the study of the genetic control of spermatogenesis. The Y chromosome contains 60 multicopy genes composed of 9 different gene families concentrated in regions of multiple repeat sequences called amplicons arranged in mirror images called palindromes. It contains many testis-specific spermatogenesis genes. This very complicated pattern is susceptible to deletions caused by homologous recombination with itself and can explain the presence of small numbers of sperm in otherwise azoospermic men. It is also the beginning of understanding the genetic control of spermatogenesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infertility Center of St. Louis, St. Luke’s Hospital, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Sherman Silber MD (Director, Professor of Urology)

  2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Sherman Silber MD (Director, Professor of Urology)

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Silber, S. (2018). The Genetic Control of Male Infertility and Understanding the Y Chromosome. In: Fundamentals of Male Infertility. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76523-5_17

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