Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Manipulation of Ploidy in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: March 15, 2018
Sex chromosome aneuploidy in wild small mammals
1Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK. jbs3@york.ac.uk
Abstract:
We describe four examples of the XO condition in wild mammals. One XO house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) was caught in nature and subsequently gave birth to three litters in captivity, confirming for wild mice the fertility observed for XO laboratory mice. Two other XO house mice were produced from laboratory crosses of wild-caught mice. An immature XO common shrew (Sorex araneus) was caught in nature; this appears to be the first XO recorded in the order Insectivora. We collected data from researchers studying chromosome variation in house mice and common shrews and found an overall incidence of 0.22% sex chromosome aneuploidy in 4608 mice and 0.05% in 6625 shrews. The discrepancy related to a much higher frequency of XO's in mice than shrews. Single XXY and XYY shrews and an XXX mouse have been recorded in nature.
Related Concept Videos
X-Inactivation
Nondisjunction
X and Y Chromosomes
The germline cells such as egg and sperm cells carry only half the number of chromosomes, i.e., 22 autosomes and one sex chromosome. All eggs have an X chromosome, while sperm cells can carry an X or...
The Y Chromosome Determines Maleness
Evolution
Around 300 million years ago, the two sex chromosomes diverged from two identical autosomal chromosomes. Over time, the Y chromosome has lost most of its genes, shrinking in size. Today,...
Dosage Compensation
In addition to sexual development, the X chromosome has genes involved in autosomal functions such as brain development and the immune system. Therefore, males and females with distinct numbers of X chromosomes will have...
Nondisjunction

