Sexual determination and differentiation in teleost fish:
the role of environmental and genetic factors
Keywords:
Gonadal differentiation, reproduction, sex chromosomesAbstract
Teleost fish have various forms of sexual determination and differentiation. Genetic and environmental factors can interact to determine sex and act on the differentiation of the gonads of these animals. Environmental factors act in different ways to determine the sex of the fish, as their action depend on the species. Factors such as temperature, pH, population density and pollution can cause a masculinization or a feminization, by acting on the hormones and, often, the ovarian apoptosis. The genetic determination is given by the sexual chromosome (monogenic system) or by the autosomal action (polygenic system). In the monogenic system several models of sexual chromosomes were observed, the main ones being XX / XY (heterogeneous males) and ZW / ZZ (heterogeneous females). With this, it is possible to observe that teleost possess a great amplitude of sexual determination and gonadal differentiation.
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