Expression of Dmrt1 in the genital ridge of mouse and chicken embryos suggests a role in vertebrate sexual development - PubMed

Affiliations

• PMID: 10545231
• DOI: 10.1006/dbio.1999.9461

Free article

Expression of Dmrt1 in the genital ridge of mouse and chicken embryos suggests a role in vertebrate sexual development

C S Raymond et al. Dev Biol. 1999.

Free article

Abstract

Sex-determining mechanisms are highly variable between phyla. Only one example has been found in which structurally and functionally related genes control sex determination in different phyla: the sexual regulators mab-3 of Caenorhabditis elegans and doublesex of Drosophila both encode proteins containing the DM domain, a novel DNA-binding motif. These two genes control similar aspects of sexual development, and the male isoform of DSX can substitute for MAB-3 in vivo, suggesting that the two proteins are functionally related. DM domain proteins may also play a role in sexual development of vertebrates. A human gene encoding a DM domain protein, DMRT1, is expressed only in the testis in adults and maps to distal 9p24.3, a short interval that is required for testis development. Earlier in development we find that murine Dmrt1 mRNA is expressed exclusively in the genital ridge of early XX and XY embryos. Thus Dmrt1 and Sry are the only regulatory genes known to be expressed exclusively in the mammalian genital ridge prior to sexual differentiation. Expression becomes XY-specific and restricted to the seminiferous tubules of the testis as gonadogenesis proceeds, and both Sertoli cells and germ cells express Dmrt1. Dmrt1 may also play a role in avian sexual development. In birds the heterogametic sex is female (ZW), and the homogametic sex is male (ZZ). Dmrt1 is Z-linked in the chicken. We find that chicken Dmrt1 is expressed in the genital ridge and Wolffian duct prior to sexual differentiation and is expressed at higher levels in ZZ than in ZW embryos. Based on sequence, map position, and expression patterns, we suggest that Dmrt1 is likely to play a role in vertebrate sexual development and therefore that DM domain genes may play a role in sexual development in a wide range of phyla.

Similar articles

• Spatiotemporal expression patterns of doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor 1 in the chicken developing gonads and Mullerian ducts.

  Omotehara T, Smith CA, Mantani Y, Kobayashi Y, Tatsumi A, Nagahara D, Hashimoto R, Hirano T, Umemura Y, Yokoyama T, Kitagawa H, Hoshi N. Omotehara T, et al. Poult Sci. 2014 Apr;93(4):953-8. doi: 10.3382/ps.2013-03672. Poult Sci. 2014. PMID: 24706973

• Conservation of the function of DMRT1 regulatory sequences in mammalian sex differentiation.

  Boyer A, Dornan S, Daneau I, Lussier J, Silversides DW. Boyer A, et al. Genesis. 2002 Dec;34(4):236-43. doi: 10.1002/gene.10158. Genesis. 2002. PMID: 12434333

• Opposite roles of DMRT1 and its W-linked paralogue, DM-W, in sexual dimorphism of Xenopus laevis: implications of a ZZ/ZW-type sex-determining system.

  Yoshimoto S, Ikeda N, Izutsu Y, Shiba T, Takamatsu N, Ito M. Yoshimoto S, et al. Development. 2010 Aug 1;137(15):2519-26. doi: 10.1242/dev.048751. Epub 2010 Jun 23. Development. 2010. PMID: 20573695

• Invertebrates may not be so different after all.

  Zarkower D. Zarkower D. Novartis Found Symp. 2002;244:115-26; discussion 126-35, 203-6, 253-7. Novartis Found Symp. 2002. PMID: 11990787 Review.

• A ZZ/ZW-type sex determination in Xenopus laevis.

  Yoshimoto S, Ito M. Yoshimoto S, et al. FEBS J. 2011 Apr;278(7):1020-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2011.08031.x. Epub 2011 Feb 25. FEBS J. 2011. PMID: 21281450 Review.

Cited by

• DMRT1 owner's manual: synchronized installation required to operate.

  Tevosian S. Tevosian S. Biol Reprod. 2013 Feb 28;88(2):50. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.113.107839. Print 2013 Feb. Biol Reprod. 2013. PMID: 23349232 Free PMC article.

• A Wt1-Dmrt1 transgene restores DMRT1 to sertoli cells of Dmrt1(-/-) testes: a novel model of DMRT1-deficient germ cells.

  Agbor VA, Tao S, Lei N, Heckert LL. Agbor VA, et al. Biol Reprod. 2013 Feb 1;88(2):51. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.112.103135. Print 2013 Feb. Biol Reprod. 2013. PMID: 23255335 Free PMC article.

• Common spontaneous sex-reversed XX males of the medaka Oryzias latipes.

  Nanda I, Hornung U, Kondo M, Schmid M, Schartl M. Nanda I, et al. Genetics. 2003 Jan;163(1):245-51. doi: 10.1093/genetics/163.1.245. Genetics. 2003. PMID: 12586712 Free PMC article.

• DMRT Transcription Factors in the Control of Nervous System Sexual Differentiation.

  Casado-Navarro R, Serrano-Saiz E. Casado-Navarro R, et al. Front Neuroanat. 2022 Jul 26;16:937596. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2022.937596. eCollection 2022. Front Neuroanat. 2022. PMID: 35958734 Free PMC article. Review.

• Avian sex, sex chromosomes, and dosage compensation in the age of genomics.

  Graves JA. Graves JA. Chromosome Res. 2014 Apr;22(1):45-57. doi: 10.1007/s10577-014-9409-9. Chromosome Res. 2014. PMID: 24599719 Review.

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • Elsevier Science

• Other Literature Sources

  • The Lens - Patent Citations Database

• Molecular Biology Databases

  • GlyGen glycoinformatics resource
  • Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI)