Click here to close
Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Xenbase and may cause the site to display incorrectly.
We suggest using a current version of Chrome,
FireFox, or Safari.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
2008 Feb 19;1057:2469-74. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0712244105.
Show Gene links
Show Anatomy links
A W-linked DM-domain gene, DM-W, participates in primary ovary development in Xenopus laevis.
Yoshimoto S
,
Okada E
,
Umemoto H
,
Uno Y
,
Nishida-Umehara C
,
Matsuda Y
,
Takamatsu N
,
Shiba T
,
Ito M
.
???displayArticle.abstract???
In the XX/XY sex-determining system, the Y-linked SRY genes of most mammals and the DMY/Dmrt1bY genes of the teleost fish medaka have been characterized as sex-determining genes that trigger formation of the testis. However, the molecular mechanism of the ZZ/ZW-type system in vertebrates, including the clawed frog Xenopus laevis, is unknown. Here, we isolated an X. laevis female genome-specific DM-domain gene, DM-W, and obtained molecular evidence of a W-chromosome in this species. The DNA-binding domain of DM-W showed a strikingly high identity (89%) with that of DMRT1, but it had no significant sequence similarity with the transactivation domain of DMRT1. In nonmammalian vertebrates, DMRT1 expression is connected to testis formation. We found DMRT1 or DM-W to be expressed exclusively in the primordial gonads of both ZZ and ZW or ZW tadpoles, respectively. Although DMRT1 showed continued expression after sex determination, DM-W was expressed transiently during sex determination. Interestingly, DM-W mRNA was more abundant than DMRT1 mRNA in the primordial gonads of ZW tadpoles early in sex determination. To assess the role of DM-W, we produced transgenic tadpoles carrying a DM-W expression vector driven by approximately 3 kb of the 5'-flanking sequence of DM-W or by the cytomegalovirus promoter. Importantly, some developing gonads of ZZ transgenic tadpoles showed ovarian cavities and primary oocytes with both drivers, suggesting that DM-W is crucial for primary ovary formation. Taken together, these results suggest that DM-W is a likely sex (ovary)-determining gene in X. laevis.
al-Mukhtar,
An ultrastructural study of primordial germ cells, oogonia and early oocytes in Xenopus laevis.
1971, Pubmed,
Xenbase
al-Mukhtar,
An ultrastructural study of primordial germ cells, oogonia and early oocytes in Xenopus laevis.
1971,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
CHANG,
Genic control and hormonal reversal of sex differentiation in Xenopus.
1956,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Erdman,
The Drosophila doublesex proteins share a novel zinc finger related DNA binding domain.
1993,
Pubmed
Hayes,
Sex determination and primary sex differentiation in amphibians: genetic and developmental mechanisms.
1998,
Pubmed
Ito,
JSAP1, a novel jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK)-binding protein that functions as a Scaffold factor in the JNK signaling pathway.
1999,
Pubmed
Kerr,
An ultrastructural study of germ plasm in spermatogenesis of Xenopus laevis.
1974,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Kettlewell,
Temperature-dependent expression of turtle Dmrt1 prior to sexual differentiation.
2000,
Pubmed
Koopman,
Male development of chromosomally female mice transgenic for Sry.
1991,
Pubmed
Koyano,
The Xenopus Sox3 gene expressed in oocytes of early stages.
1997,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Matsuda,
DMY gene induces male development in genetically female (XX) medaka fish.
2007,
Pubmed
Matsuda,
DMY is a Y-specific DM-domain gene required for male development in the medaka fish.
2002,
Pubmed
Matsuda,
Application of fluorescence in situ hybridization in genome analysis of the mouse.
1995,
Pubmed
Murphy,
Vertebrate DM domain proteins bind similar DNA sequences and can heterodimerize on DNA.
2007,
Pubmed
Nanda,
300 million years of conserved synteny between chicken Z and human chromosome 9.
1999,
Pubmed
Nanda,
Conserved synteny between the chicken Z sex chromosome and human chromosome 9 includes the male regulatory gene DMRT1: a comparative (re)view on avian sex determination.
2000,
Pubmed
Nanda,
A duplicated copy of DMRT1 in the sex-determining region of the Y chromosome of the medaka, Oryzias latipes.
2002,
Pubmed
Raymond,
Evidence for evolutionary conservation of sex-determining genes.
1998,
Pubmed
Raymond,
Dmrt1, a gene related to worm and fly sexual regulators, is required for mammalian testis differentiation.
2000,
Pubmed
Raymond,
Expression of Dmrt1 in the genital ridge of mouse and chicken embryos suggests a role in vertebrate sexual development.
1999,
Pubmed
Schmid,
Chromosome banding in Amphibia. XVI. High-resolution replication banding patterns in Xenopus laevis.
1991,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Sinclair,
A gene from the human sex-determining region encodes a protein with homology to a conserved DNA-binding motif.
1990,
Pubmed
Sparrow,
A simplified method of generating transgenic Xenopus.
2000,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Villalpando,
Determination of the sensitive stages for gonadal sex-reversal in Xenopus laevis tadpoles.
1990,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Volff,
Medaka dmY/dmrt1Y is not the universal primary sex-determining gene in fish.
2003,
Pubmed
Volff,
Evolutionary dynamics of the DM domain gene family in metazoans.
2003,
Pubmed
Yamada,
Sox15 enhances trophoblast giant cell differentiation induced by Hand1 in mouse placenta.
2006,
Pubmed
Yoshimoto,
Expression and promoter analysis of Xenopus DMRT1 and functional characterization of the transactivation property of its protein.
2006,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
