PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zwingman, T
AU  - Erickson, R P
AU  - Boyer, T
AU  - Ao, A
TI  - Transcription of the sex-determining region genes Sry and Zfy in the mouse preimplantation embryo.
AID  - 10.1073/pnas.90.3.814
DP  - 1993 Feb 01
TA  - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
PG  - 814--817
VI  - 90
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.pnas.org/content/90/3/814.short
4100  - http://www.pnas.org/content/90/3/814.full
SO  - Proc Natl Acad Sci USA1993 Feb 01; 90
AB  - We have confirmed the faster growth of male preimplantation mouse embryos. We have also studied the transcription of Y chromosomal genes postulated to have a role in sex determination, using the highly sensitive technique of reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction at these early stages. We find that two sex-determining region genes, Sry and Zfy, are transcribed during mouse preimplantation development, while the Zfy homologs Zfx and Zfa and a sex-determining region gene originally called A1s9 (now called Ube1y-1) are not. We also show that the anti-Müllerian hormone gene, which contains a Sry consensus binding element in its 5' promoter region, is not transcribed at this time. Developmental curves show that Sry and Zfy are expressed commencing at the two-cell stage. These results suggest that mammalian sex determination starts prior to gonad differentiation.