Vertebrate sex determination: many means to an end

Abstract excerpt

The differentiation of a testis or ovary from a bipotential gonadal primordium is a developmental process common to mammals, birds and reptiles. Since the discovery of SRY, the Y-linked testis-determining gene in mammals, extensive efforts have failed to find its orthologue in other vertebrates, indicating evolutionary plasticity in the switch that triggers sex determination. Several other genes are known to be...