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Genetics

Distorting sex ratios

Nature volume 402, pages 131–132 (1999)Cite this article

During sperm production in mammals, the process of meiosis generates spermatozoa that are genetically different but functionally equivalent. So, with respect to the sex chromosomes, for example, equal numbers of sperm are produced carrying either an X or a Y chromosome. Because X and Y sperm are equally capable of fertilizing an egg, equal numbers of male and female embryos are produced, and the mammalian sex ratio at birth is 50%.

All other pairs of chromosomes show this 50% transmission ratio, but there are rare exceptions. For example, some mice contain naturally occurring variants of chromosome 17 — the so-called t-haplotypes — that do not obey this rule. Remarkably, sperm carrying these unusual chromosomes can propagate themselves with transmission ratios as great as 99% in their own favour. It was not known how this process, known as transmission ratio distortion (TRD), is achieved at a molecular level. But on page 141 of this issue, Herrmann and colleagues1 describe a unique protein kinase encoded by the t-haplotype. This kinase affects a signal-transduction cascade that probably controls the speed and directionality of sperm as they make their long journey up the female reproductive tract.

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Figure 1: Genetic models of transmission ratio distortion.

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  1. the Institute of Cancer Research, Chester Beatty Laboratories, 237 Fulham Road, London, SW3 6JB, UK

    Keith R. Willison

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  1. Keith R. Willison
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Correspondence to Keith R. Willison.

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Willison, K. Distorting sex ratios. Nature 402, 131–132 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/45943

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