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. 1995 Oct 24;92(22):10403–10407. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.22.10403

Y chromosome short arm-Sxr recombination in XSxr/Y males causes deletion of Rbm and XY female sex reversal.

S H Laval 1, P H Glenister 1, C Rasberry 1, C E Thornton 1, S K Mahadevaiah 1, H J Cooke 1, P S Burgoyne 1, B M Cattanach 1
PMCID: PMC40805  PMID: 7479793

Abstract

We earlier described three lines of sex-reversed XY female mice deleted for sequences believed close to the testes-determining gene (Sry) on the Y chromosome short arm (Yp). The original sex-reversed females appeared among the offspring of XY males that carried the Yp duplication Sxr on their X chromosome. Earlier cytogenetic observations had suggested that the deletions resulted from asymmetrical meiotic recombination between the Y and the homologous Sxr region, but no direct evidence for this hypothesis was available. We have now analyzed the offspring of XSxr/Y males carrying an evolutionarily divergent Mus musculus domesticus Y chromosome, which permits detection and characterization of such recombination events. This analysis has enabled the derivation of a recombination map of Yp and Sxr, also demonstrating the orientation of Yp with respect to the Y centromere. The mapping data have established that Rbm, the murine homologue of a gene family cloned from the human Y chromosome, lies between Sry and the centromere. Analysis of two additional XY female lines shows that asymmetrical Yp-Sxr recombination leading to XY female sex reversal results in deletion of Rbm sequences. The deletions bring Sry closer to Y centromere, consistent with the hypothesis that position-effect inactivation of Sry is the basis for the sex reversal.

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