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Letter

Nature Genetics 40, 794–799 (1 June 2008) | doi:10.1038/ng.126

The mouse X chromosome is enriched for multicopy testis genes showing postmeiotic expression

Jacob L Mueller , Shantha K Mahadevaiah , Peter J Park , Peter E Warburton , David C Page & James M A Turner

According to the prevailing view, mammalian X chromosomes are enriched in spermatogenesis genes expressed before meiosis and deficient in spermatogenesis genes expressed after meiosis. The paucity of postmeiotic genes on the X chromosome has been interpreted as a consequence of meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI)—the complete silencing of genes on the XY bivalent at meiotic prophase.