Médecine de la Reproduction
MENUGenetics of gonadal differentiation, a key step in the determination of adult sex and fertility Volume 24, issue 2, Avril-Mai-Juin 2022
Authors
Université Paris-Saclay, Inrae, ENVA, UVSQ, BREED, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France <eric.pailhoux@inrae.fr>
* Tirés à part : É. Pailhoux
- Key words: sex determination, gonads differentiation, testis, ovaries, mammals, vertebrates
- DOI : 10.1684/mte.2022.0883
- Page(s) : 194-201
- Published in: 2022
The knowledge of sex determination and gonads differentiation processes have made significant progress these three last decades since the SRY gene discovery, the testis determining factor in mammals. Human genetics, high throughput sequencing, and functional genomic studies allowed us to have a clear vision of both sexes’ cellular interactions and genetic pathways involved in gonad differentiation. This short review takes stock of the current knowledge of gonadal differentiation in mammals replaced in a more general context of sexual characteristics development in vertebrates.