Sex determination and sex reversal.
Sex determination in mammals is based on a genetic cascade that controls the fate of the gonads. Gonads will then direct the establishment of phenotypic sex through the production of hormones. Different types of sex reversal are expected to occur if mutations disrupt one of the three steps of gonadal differentiation: formation of the gonadal primordia, sex determination, and testis or ovary development.
Camerino
Giovanna
G
Dipartimento di Patologia Umana ed Ereditaria, Università di Pavia, Via Forlanini 14, 27100 Pavia, Italy. camerino@unipv.it
Parma
Pietro
P
Radi
Orietta
O
Valentini
Stella
S
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D012734:Disorders of Sex Development; D006066:Gonads / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D012730:Sex Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics; D019849:Sex Determination Processes