Is ZFY the sex-determining gene on the human Y chromosome?
The sex-determining region of the human Y chromosome contains a gene, ZFY, that encodes a zinc-finger protein. ZFY may prove to be the testis-determining factor. There is a closely related gene, ZFX, on the human X chromosome. In most species of placental mammals, we detect two ZFY-related loci: one on the Y chromosome and one on the X chromosome. However, there are four ZFY-homologous loci in mouse: Zfy-1 and Zfy-2 map to the sex-determining region of the mouse Y chromosome, Zfx is on the mouse X chromosome, and a fourth locus is autosomal.
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Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Nine Cambridge Center, Massachusetts 02142.
D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002877:Chromosomes, Human; D005260:Female; D005796:Genes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis; D014960:X Chromosome; D014998:Y Chromosome