Nature 346, 240 - 244 (19 July 1990); doi:10.1038/346240a0

A gene from the human sex-determining region encodes a protein with homology to a conserved DNA-binding motif

Andrew H. Sinclair, Philippe Berta^*, Mark S. Palmer, J. Ross Hawkins, Beatrice L. Griffiths, Matthijs J. Smith, Jamie W. Foster^*, Anna-Maria Frischauf, Robin Lovell-Badge^† & Peter N. Goodfellow

Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, PO Box 123, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX, UK .
^†Laboratory of Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics, National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK
^*Permanent addresses: Centre de Recherches de Biochimie Macromoleculaire, CNRS LP8402/INSERM U.249, Route de Mende, 34033 Montpellier Cedex, France (P.B.) and Department of Genetics and Human Variation, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia (J.W.F.).

A search of a 35-kilobase region of the human Y chromosome necessary for male sex determination has resulted in the identification of a new gene. This gene is conserved and Y-specific among a wide range of mammals, and encodes a testis-specific transcript. It shares homology with the mating-type protein, Mc, from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and a conserved DNA-binding motif present in the nuclear high-mobility-group proteins HMG1 and HMG2. This gene has been termed SRY (for sex-determining region Y) and proposed to be a candidate for the elusive testis-determining gene, TDF.

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