Evolution and Development of Testis
A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Genetics and Genomics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (2 February 2021) | Viewed by 23804
Special Issue Editors
Interests: mouse genetics; sex determination; gonad differentiation; spermatogenesis; disorders of sexual development
Interests: genetics of sexual development in mammals; study of true hermaphroditism in natural mammalian populations; genetic control of testicular regression in mammalian species with seasonal reproduction
Interests: mammalian developmental genetics; mammalian sex determination; sex reversal; true hermafroditism; intersexuality; gonadal development; ovotestis development; gene expression; seasonal testis regression; genetic biodiversity
Special Issue Information
The testes are the male gonads, where both sperm and androgenic hormones are produced. Testicular anatomy is very similar in mammals, birds, and reptiles, including the presence of a permanent germinal epithelium inside seminiferous tubules and interstitial Leydig cells, but it greatly diverges in other vertebrates. Despite the fact that spermatogenesis is evolutionarily well conserved, the mechanisms of sex determination and testis differentiation are quite different among related taxa. The comparison of these molecular mechanisms among different taxonomic groups will help us to understand how a developmental system with a common function and many common regulatory elements may differ in how the gene regulation network is triggered in different organisms, and how new genes are incorporated at the top of a taxa-specific network. This network makes it possible for the embryonic gonad to differentiate into two different organs, an ovary or a testis, depending on a decision made during development. Recently, however, this decision is proving not to be definitive, because evidence is accumulating that key genes of the male and female pathways are necessary to maintain sex throughout life and avoid transdifferentiation.
In this Special Issue we aim to provide an up-to-date overview of the mechanisms of testis determination and differentiation among different vertebrates, focusing on the aspects that may improve our understanding of the evolution of testis development.
Prof. Francisco Javier Barrionuevo Jimenez
Prof. Dr. Prof. Miguel Burgos
Prof. Dr. Rafael Jiménez
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- testis development
- sexual differentiation
- sex determination
- evolution of sexual development
- transdifferentiation
- gonadal embryology
- sex chromosomes
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