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Different aspects of sex differentiation in marsupials |
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| Y chromosome (testes) |
No Y chromosome (absence of testes) |
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| One X chromosome (scrotum) |
XY |
XO |
| Male animals with scrotum and testes |
Animals without testes and an empty scrotum instead of a pouch |
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| Two X chromosomes (pouch and mammary glands) |
XXY |
XX |
| Animals with testes and a pouch with mammary glands instead of scrotum |
Female animals with a pouch and mammary glands |
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The marsupial Y has the ability to turn the undifferentiated gonads into testes, but other aspects of sex differentiation seem to rely on the number of X chromosomes present. This is how we come across the above combinations in sex chromosome aneuploidies in marsupials. | ||
Manolakou et al. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 2006 4:59 doi:10.1186/1477-7827-4-59 |
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