Metamale
A metamale (or supermale) is a low viability Drosophila fruit fly with a male phenotype in which the ratio of X chromosomes to sets of autosomes (A) is less than 0.5.[1] For example: a fly with one X chromosome and two sets of autosomes is a normal male, a fly with one X chromosome and three sets of autosomes is a metamale.
American geneticist
superfemale" and "supermale".[2] German-American geneticist Curt Stern proposed the alternate terms "metafemale" and "metamale" in 1959.[3]
References
- ISBN 978-0-19-976643-7.
genic balance: a mechanism of sex determination, originally discovered in Drosophila, that depends on the ratio of X chromosomes to sets of autosomes (A). Males develop when the X/A ratio is 0.5 or less, females develop when the X/A ratio is 1.0 or greater, an intersex develops when the ratio is between 0.5 and 1.0. See Appendix C, 1925, Bridges; metafemales, metamales, sex determination.
metafemale: in Drosophila, a female phenotype of relatively low viability in which the ratio of X chromosomes to sets of autosomes exceeds 1.0, previously called a superfemale. See intersex, metamale.
metamale: in Drosophila, a poorly viabile male characterized by cells containing one X and three sets of autosomes, previously called a supermale. See intersex, metafemale.
superfemale: metafemale (q.v.).
supermale: metamale (q.v.). - PMID 17769897.
- .
External links
- Gilbert, Scott F. (2000). "Chapter 17. Sex determination". Developmental biology. Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates. ISBN 9780878932436.