Phenogenetics of triploid intersexes in Drosophila melanogaster.
Triploid intersexes homozygous for a mutant (msl-2) known to impede the hyperactivation of the X chromosome in diploid males differentiate into adults, sexually indistinguishable from their heterozygous sibs. A shift toward female sexual differentiation mediated by manipulating the rearing temperature is accompanied by an apparent increase in the level of an X-linked gene product. This unexpected result is rationalized in terms of differential lethality of individuals at the two extremities of the distribution of X-activity levels in intersexes raised at a particular temperature. No evidence of a mosaicism comparable to the sexual mosaicism exhibited could be found with respect to an X-linked gene product in triploid intersexes.
D000818:Animals; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006720:Homozygote; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D011003:Ploidies; D012733:Sex Differentiation; D014960:X Chromosome