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The Sex-Determining Gene in Medaka

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Medaka

Abstract

Because the sex of most vertebrate species is determined by genetic information, these species must possess a sex-determining gene in their genome. The first sex-determining gene among vertebrates was identified in mammals. Thereafter, for more than a decade, no other sex-determining gene was found. The second sex-determining gene in vertebrates was identified in medaka (Oryzias latipes). This gene is designated Dmy or DMRT1bY and has a DNA-binding motif that is different from that of the mammalian sex-determining gene SRY or Sry. In this review, I have focused on the isolation of the sex-determining gene of medaka. The identification of the sex-determining gene has revealed the diversity among the sex chromosomes of medaka. This knowledge has provided important clues that are useful to study the diversity of sex-determining genes in vertebrates and to identify the sex-determining genes in other nonmammalian vertebrates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Bioscience Research & Education, Utsunomiya University, 350 Minemachi, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, 321-8505, Japan

    Masaru Matsuda

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  1. Masaru Matsuda
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Correspondence to Masaru Matsuda .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Bioresources, National Institute for Basic Biology, 38 Nishigonaka, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi, 444-8585, Japan

    Kiyoshi Naruse Ph.D. (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Genetics for Reproduction, National Institute for Basic Biology, 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi, 444-8787, Japan

    Minoru Tanaka Ph.D. (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

  3. Department of Biological Sciences Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Hiroyuki Takeda Ph.D. (Professor) (Professor)

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Matsuda, M. (2011). The Sex-Determining Gene in Medaka. In: Naruse, K., Tanaka, M., Takeda, H. (eds) Medaka. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-92691-7_17

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