title: The sex determination in Ellobius lutescens remains bizarre.
abstract: Mammalian sex determination and gonad differentiation are the result of a complex interaction of fine-tuned spatial and temporal gene expression with threshold levels of individual genes. The male pathway is initiated by SRY. Some exceptional mammals determine male sex without the SRY gene and even without a Y chromosome. Ellobius lutescens in this report is one example of this "weird" species. We provide key data on the genomic level that there are no coarse differences in the genomes of male and female animals by comparative genomic hybridization. On the gene level we studied the gene Nr5a1 for the orphan nuclear receptor, steroidogenic factor SF-1, a central constituent for gonad differentiation and adrenal gland development. The Ellobius lutescens Nr5a1 gene was mapped to the proximal short arm of chromosome 2 by fluorescence in situ hybridization. In addition, we provide evidence by linkage analysis in two E. lutescens pedigrees that Nr5a1 is not the key male sex-determining gene in Ellobius lutescens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Universitätsklinikum Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Just
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baumstark
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hameister
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schreiner
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Reisert
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hakhverdyan
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vogel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005260:Female; D016678:Genome; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male; D009115:Muridae / Q000235:genetics*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010375:Pedigree; D019849:Sex Determination Processes; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014998:Y Chromosome
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors