Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Expression of a linear Sry transcript in the mouse genital ridge

Nature Genetics volume 10, pages 480–482 (1995)Cite this article

Abstract

Sry is the Y-chromosomal gene that is pivotal in the determination of sex in mammals1–3, however the structure of the Sry transcript produced in the embryo has not been determined. We show here that the transcript expressed in the developing mouse gonad at the sex determining stage of development is linear, polyadenylated and encoded byasingleexon, incontrasttothecircular, apparently untranslated transcript produced in adult testes4. The linear transcript was not detected in any other fetal tissue nor in any adult tissue tested, and was expressed only in the genital ridge portion of the urogenital ridge. The spatial and temporal profile of Sry expression suggests that its role in the mouse fetus is limited to initiating Sertoli cell development during testis determination.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sinclair, A.H. et al. A gene from the human sex-determining region encodes a protein with homology to a conserved DNA-binding motif. Nature 346, 240–244 (1990).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Gubbay, J. et al. A gene mapping to the sex-determining region of the mouse Y chromosome is a member of a novel family of embryonically expressed genes. Nature 346, 245–250 (1990).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Koopman, P., Gubbay, J., Vivian, N., Goodfellow, P. & Lovell-Badge, R. Male development of chromosomally female mice transgenic for Sry. Nature 351, 117–121 (1991).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Capel, B. et al. Circular transcripts of the testis determining gene Sry in adult mouse testis. Cell 73, 1019–1030 (1993).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Frohman, M.A. RACE: Rapid Amplification of cDNA ends. in PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications (eds Innis. M.A., Gelfand, D.H., Sninsky, J.J. & White, T.J.) 28–38 (Academic Press, San Diego, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Gubbay, J. et al. Inverted repeat structure of the Sry locus in mice. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 89, 7953–7957 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hacker, A., Capel, B., Goodfellow, P. & Lovell-Badge, R. Expression of Sry, the mouse sex determining gene. Development 121, 1603–1614 (1995).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Tucker, P.K. & Lundrigan, B.L. Rapid evolution of the sex determining locus in Old World mice and rats. Nature 364, 715–717 (1993).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Dubin, R.A. & Ostrer, H. Sry is a transcriptional activator. Mol. Endocrinol. 8, 1182–1192 (1994).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Clépet, C. et al. The human SRY transcript. Hum. molec. Genet. 2, 2007–2012 (1993).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. McLaren, A. & Buehr, M. Development of mouse germ cells in cultures of fetal gonads. Cell Diff. Devel. 31, 185–195 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Buehr, M., Gu, S. & McLaren, A. Mesonephric contribution to testis differentiation in the fetal mouse. Development 117, 273–281 (1993).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Burgoyne, P.S., Buehr, M., Koopman, P., Rossant, J. & McLaren, A. Cell-autonomous action of the testis-determining gene: Sertoli cells are exclusively XY in XX↔XY chimaeric mouse testes. Development 102, 443–450 (1988).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Koopman, P., Münsterberg, A., Capel, B., Vivian, N. & Lovell-Badge, R. Expression of a candidate sex-determining gene during mouse testis differentiation. Nature 348, 450–452 (1990).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Rugh, R. The mouse: its reproduction and development. (Burgess Publishing Company, Minneapolis, 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Palmer, S.J. & Burgoyne, P.S. The Mus musculus domesticus Tdy allele acts later than the Mus musculus musculus Tdy allele: a basis for XY sex reversal in C57BL/6-YPOS mice. Development 113, 709–714 (1991).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Chomczynski, P. & Sacchi, N. Single-step method of RNA isolation by acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction. Anal. Biochem. 162, 156–159 (1987).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia

    Yvette W.A. Jeske, Josephine Bowles, Andy Greenfield & Peter Koopman

  2. Department of Anatomical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia

    Peter Koopman

Authors
  1. Yvette W.A. Jeske
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Josephine Bowles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andy Greenfield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Peter Koopman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jeske, Y., Bowles, J., Greenfield, A. et al. Expression of a linear Sry transcript in the mouse genital ridge. Nat Genet 10, 480–482 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0895-480

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0895-480

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing