Molecular Genetics of Sex Determination in Channel Catfish: Studies on SRY, ZFY, Bkm, and Human Telomeric Repeats1

Abstract
In amniotes, the banded krait minor (Bkm) minisatellite (GATA), the human telometric sequence (TTAGGG)7, and the Y-specific genes, ZFY and SRY, are associated with a particular sex. These sequences were studied in the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. However, none was sex-specific in catfish; homologs of each were present in males and females. Our data suggest that components of mammalian sex-determining systems may be widespread and shared among the vertebrates in general. Whether those components are involved in sex determination in lower vertebrates or merely represent evolutionary precursors of sex-determining factors in amniotes remains to be determined.

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