Developmental transitions of germ cell lineage of the mouse

Mammalian germ cells arise during early embryogenesis and migrate to the developing gonad where, under the direction of the somatic environment, they initiate distinct sex-specific developmental programs resulting in the production of egg or sperm. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing many stages of germ cell development has advanced greatly in recent years. However, many aspects of germ cell development remain entirely uncharacterized at the molecular level. In this thesis I will present projects utilizing forward and reverse genetics that generate new points of entry into poorly understood transitions during germ cell development. The X and Y chromosome do not have pairing partners during male meiosis. As a result they become silenced during this time. One mechanism that has been proposed to compensate for inactive X-linked housekeeping genes during male meiosis is X-to-autosome retropositions. We have identified a mutation within an X-to-autosome retrogene in the mouse spermatogenic mutant jsd/jsd that provides the first supporting evidence for this model.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biology.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Baltus, Andrew Edmund

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David C. Page.

• Biology.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/37262
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/37262

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37262