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Biology Project - ADA

Biology SL (Dayanand Anglo Vedic Public School Pokhariput)

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Swapnarani Lenka of STD-XII(B)

bearing Roll No- of DAV Public School, Unit-
VIII, Bhubaneswar has successfully performed the project
entitled: “SEX DETERMINATION” in accordance with the
conditions led down by All India Senior School Certificate
Examination (AISSCE) conducted by CBSE under the
supervision and guidance of Mrs. Sanjukta Dash during the
academic year 2023-24.

Date of submission Teacher’s signature Signature of External

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“Every beacon of hope takes the shape of grit through endless

efforts.”
I wish to acknowledge my indebtness to my revered Biology
teacher Mrs. Sanjukta Dash for her enthusiastic support and
valuable suggestion without which this project report would
not have been successfully completed.
In the preparation of this project my sincere and foremost
thanks goes to our laboratory assistant Mr. Ashutosh Nayak
for helping me in this. Finally the part of acknowledgement
would remain incomplete without thanking my parents.
Lastly, I thank my classmates whose indelible mark on this
project made it possible within a limited time frame.

Signature of Student

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INDEX

[Link]. CONTENTS PAGE

NO.
1. Certificate 1
2. Acknowledgement 2
3. Aim of sex determination 5
4. What is sex determination? 6
5. Historical development 7
6. Pathways regulate sex
determination 9
Genetic system
Homogametic
Heterogametic
(i)Male heterogamety 9
(a)XX-XY TYPE
(b)XX-XO TYPE
(ii)Female heterogamety 11
(a)ZZ-ZW TYPE
(b)ZZ-ZO TYPE
Sex determination in honey bee 14

Non-genetic system 17
7. Conclusion 19
8. Bibliography 20

AIM OF SEX
DETERMINATION
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Sex determination is an important evolutionary process as it

encourages the genetic fitness of an individual. The ultimate
aim of sex determination is to promote the heterozygosity or
accumulation of diverse alleles in a species, which is vital for
creating genetic variation in living organisms. Therefore, it is
an important area of study in developmental and evolutionary
biology, as well as in ecology.

WHAT IS SEX
DETERMINATION?
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Sexual reproduction is a historical process of life on earth and

the most popular heterogametic system (X and Y sex
chromosomes) in humans and many other organisms leaves an
imprint that sex determination mechanism is ancient and
conserved. Sex determination is inherently an integral part of
reproduction that separates reproductive organs responsible
for male and female gamete production. It is an intricate
developmental process that describes whether the individual
will be developed as male or female. At the same time, sexual
differentiation is the subsequent development of phenotypic
differences (primary and secondary sexual characters)
between male and female individuals from an undifferentiated
zygote. Sex differentiation stages are decided by the sex
determination, that is, the gender-specific response of
different tissues to hormones produced by the gonads (male or
female reproductive organs) distinctly in both genders.

HISTORICAL
DEVELOPMENT

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Whether a plant or animal will become a male, a female, or

bisexual is determined during the initial development of an
organism. Hundreds of years ago, researchers have started
studying the mechanism of sex determination. For example, in
335 B.C.E., Aristotle anticipated that sex is controlled or ruled
by the heat of the male partner during intercourse. A male
child will be born when the male parent’s heat overwhelms
the female parent’s coldness and vice versa. Environmental
theories of sex determination (i.e., Aristotle’s theory, in
reptiles, temperature during embryo development regulates
the gender) were popular until about 1900 and meticulous
scientific research began after the discovery of sex
chromosomes during 1900, and gradual scientific
improvements followed during the next century. In 1891,
Hermann Henking, a German Biologist studying
spermatogenesis in the insect firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus; 2n
= 24), detected that, as a result of meiosis, half of the
spermatozoa have not received all 12 chromosomes and ended
with 11 chromosomes only. It means one of the chromosomes
was not involved in meiosis. This chromosome seemed and
behaved differently from others; he was not able to speculate
the significance of this element and named it “X element or X
body”. In 1902, Clarence Erwin McClung cleared the
Henking assumption through cytological observations on
several grasshopper species and demonstrated that the somatic
cells in female grasshoppers are different in chromosome
number than do corresponding cells in the male, which he
referred to as “accessory or supernumerary chromosome” and

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demonstrated their association with sex determination. Later

on, American geneticist Edmund Beecher Wilson (1905)
observed differences, either in the presence or in the absence
of one chromosome or in the size of one chromosome pair in
germ cells of both the sexes of protenor species. Another
American geneticist Nettie Maria Stevens (1905) studied
germ cells of both sexes of mealworm beetle (Tenebrio
molitor) and found that in males, one chromosome was
smaller than the other chromosome, and she confirmed that
this chromosome must be regulating the sex in males. Later
on, this smaller chromosome was named as “Y chromosome”
and the larger one as “X chromosome” by Stevens (1905).
After Stevens died in 1912, Wilson was the first to designate
the name “sex chromosome” for the pair of XX and XY
chromosomes.

PATHWAYS REGULATE
SEX DETERMINATION
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Various pathways decide males and females and these

pathways have been evolved rapidly in many species or
genera/taxa. Sex determination is regulated by several
different genetic (i.e., sex chromosomes) and non-genetic
pathways (i.e. hormonal factors, environmental factors).

GENETIC SYSTEM:
Genetic systems have been classified as homogametic or
heterogametic sex types.

HOMOGAMETY- The term homogametic is often used to

define an organism or individual producing all the gametes of
same type. The homogametic individuals possess matching
pair of sex chromosomes.

HETEROGAMETY- In heterogamety the individual

produces two different types of sex chromosomes.

(i) Male heterogamety - When the sex of the organism is

determined by the male which produces two types of gametes
having different sex chromosomes, it is known as male
heterogamety.
 XX-XY TYPE:

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 XX-XO TYPE:

(a) XX-XY TYPE:

In this system, female has two X chromosomes, is
homogametic and produces only one type of gamete, i.e., X.

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The male has one X and one Y chromosome, is heterogametic

and produces two types of gametes, viz., X and Y. Union of X
ovum with X sperm leads to development of female (XX) sex.
If X ovum units with Y sperm, it produces male (XY) sex.
This type of sex determination is found in mammals, some
insects like Drosophila.

(b) XX-XO TYPE:

In this system, female has a pair of X chromosomes (XX) and
male has single X chromosome (XO). Female is homogametic
and produces all the eggs with X chromosome. The male is
heterogametic, which produces sperms half of which have X
chromosome and other half have none. Union of egg with
sperm having X chromosome will give rise to female sex and
with sperm having none results in development of male sex.
This type of sex determination is found in grasshoppers.

(ii) Female Heterogamety - When the sex of the organism is

determined by the female which produces two types of
gametes having different sex chromosomes, it is known as
female heterogamety.
(a) ZZ-ZW TYPE:
In this system, female is heterogametic and produces two
types of gametes - Z and W types. Male is homogametic and
 ZZ-ZW TYPE:

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 ZZ-ZO TYPE:

produces all the sperms of same type carrying one Z

chromosome. Union of Z sperm with ovum having Z
chromosome gives rise to male and union of Z sperm with

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ovum carrying W chromosome leads to the development of

female sex.
This type of sex determination is found in birds and
butterflies.

(b) ZZ-ZO TYPE:

In this system, female has only one Z chromosome and hence
is heterogametic. As a result of meiosis, 50% eggs of such
female carry a Z chromosome and remaining 50% have none.
On the other hand, male has two Z chromosomes and
produces all the sperms with one Z chromosome. Thus, male
is homogametic. Union of Z sperm with ovum having Z
chromosome gives rise to male sex and union of Z sperm with
ovum having none leads to development of female.
This type of sex determination is found in silk moths and
Japanese giant silkworms.

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SEX DETERMINATION IN HONEY

BEE

Haplodiploidy is most commonly used in honey bee for sex

determination. Sex determination takes place by sets of
chromosomes of an individual receives. Two sets of
chromosomes (diploid) tend to female and one set (haploid)
tends to male sex formation. For example, in honey bee male
individual (i.e., drone) formed from unfertilized egg cells (i.e.,
haploid). Thus, male develops from the process of
parthenogenesis and called as arrhenotoky (where haploid egg
cell develops males rather than females through
parthenogenesis). However, female (queen and worker bees)
develops from diploid egg cells (i.e., fertilized egg cell). Thus,
male has half number of chromosomes than female and is
haploid. The male (drone) is solely derived from queen and in
some cases from worker honey bees. The chromosomes
number in diploid queen is 32, while 16 chromosomes in
haploid drones. Drone produces sperm cells that consist of
whole genome and sperm cells are genetically identical. Thus,
the genetic makeup of female workers is derived half from
mother and other half from father, while genetic makeup of
drone is solely derived from [Link] is called as
haplodiploid sex-determination system and has special
characteristic features such as the males produce sperms by
mitosis, they do not have father and thus cannot have sons,
but have a grandfather and can have grandsons.

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High Low
Intermediate Examples Temperature range
temperature temperature

Both male
and Crocodiles,
High—30–35°C
Male Female female in alligator, and
Low—23–28°C
variable lizards
proportion
Both male
and
Most species of High—30–35°C
Female Male female in
turtles Low—23–28°C
variable
proportion
Chleydra
serpentine (turtl High—30–35°C
Female Female Males
e spp.) and few Low—23–28°C
crocodile spp.
Both male
and
Australian High—>30°C
Female Female female in
crocodile Low—< 25°C
variable
proportion

(Table-1:Sex determination reactions based on

incubation temperature for eggs.)

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NON-GENETIC SYSTEM:
There are also some non-genetic factor which controls sex
determination.

ENVIRONMENTAL SEX DETERMINATION

(ESD):
In many species, sex of an individual is governed by the
environmental circumstances on a zygote of unstated sex and
sex is determined by the effect of environmental factors on
embryonic and post-embryonic developmental stages. The
ESD generally occurs in unicellular eukaryotes and among
multicellular organisms, it is found mainly in non-avian
reptiles, amphibians, and some fishes. Among the different
environmental factors, temperature plays a key role on sex
determination. However, other environmental factors such as
social environment, nutrition, and pH also play decisive role
in sex determination.
Based on different environmental factors, ESD mechanisms
are classified, as mentioned below:

(i) Temperature-dependent sex determination:

Sex is irreversibly determined by the incubation temperature
during embryogenesis. Temperature affects the sex in most of
the species of the turtle, crocodiles, lizards, and snakes. Based
on incubation temperature for eggs, there are following three
different reactions that may occur(Table-1).

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(ii) Size of egg or body size:

Egg size decides sex differentiation in many species like sea
worm (Dinophilus). Big egg size tends to develop female,
while small egg size tends to produce male progeny.

Mixed sex determination

system

When the sex of an individual is ruled by the combined effect

of genetic and environmental factors at various degrees, in
case of American salamander (Pleurodeles) and fish (Menidia
menidia), sex is determined by the joint effect of both the sex
karyotype (ZW and ZZ) and incubation temperature of eggs.

Conclusion
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The several mechanisms of sex determination reveal the

diverse pathways governing sex determination in animals and
these pathways are also very well understood in various
model organisms. The highly evolved system of sex
determination is heterogametic sex determination in animals,
that is, XX/XY. Even though there are several unsolved
mysteries related to the sex determination system such as why
heterogamety is more common in male then female? Why
degeneration of sex chromosomes occurs only in few
organisms not in all? With the progress in molecular
techniques over the past decades, several puzzles were solved
like discovery of Sry and a ray of hope arises to learn more
about molecular basis of sex determination, evolution of sex
chromosome, mapping of gene, sequencing, gender-dependent
expression of sex-regulating gene, and relationship between
the evolution of genetic degeneration and dosage
compensation. Multiple “-omics” data and integrative
approaches will allow scientists to address the unresolved
questions and finding the new sex-determining genes as well
as genetic networks involved in sex determination.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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[Link] book of Biology Classs-XII (NCERT)

[Link]://[Link]/wiki/sex-
determination_system
[Link]://[Link]/books/NBK9967/
sexdetermination/chromosome.
[Link]://[Link]/chapters/81165
[Link]://[Link]/science/article/pii/
S0960982212002059

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