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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Dissection of Larval Zebrafish Gonadal Tissue
Published on: April 26, 2017
[Genes involved in sex determination and differentiation]
Maricilda Palandi de Mello1, Juliana de G Assumpção, Christine Hackel
1Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética, Departamento de Genética Médica, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP. mmello@unicamp.br
Abstract:
Chromosomal sex is established at fertilization by the presence of an X or Y chromosome. The first step of male and female development is gonadal specialization in testes or ovaries; all other processes that follow result from secondary effects produced by testis and ovary hormones. Gonadal determination and differentiation and the development of external genitalia involve time- and tissue-specific expression of genes forming a gene cascade. Those genes, their expression profile and their role in the pathological manifestations related to gonadal and external genitalia development will be discussed in this review.
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