Specimens of human adult bones from Žatec cemetery (11th – 13th century) were investigated for determination of sex by molecular genetic methods. Sequence length difference in amelogenin gene locus on both X and Y chromosomes was chosen for its value in sexing. A modification of the silica method for extraction of aDNA was used. In 94.7% (18 out of 19 specimens) extraction was successful. Obtained data were then confronted with the results given by morphological sexing methods and the concordance of both techniques was 83.3%. This observation can be also taken as an indirect proof of authenticity of extracted aDNA fragments. and Vybrané kostry dospělých jedinců z žateckého pohřebiště (11.–13. století) byly podrobeny molekulárně genetickému určení pohlaví. Pro tyto účely byl zvolen specifický úsek DNA na X i Y chromozomu (80/83 bp) kódující bílkovinu zubní skloviny amelogenin. Extrakce DNA byla provedena pro účely laboratoře upravenou metodou silika. V 94,7 % (18 z 19 koster) se podařilo získat DNA. Výsledky byly dále konfrontovány s určeními zjištěnými morfologickými metodami a konkordance obou technik byla stanovena na 83,3 %. Toto zjištění lze rovněž považovat za nepřímý doklad autenticity DNA izolované ze středověkých kostí.
The sex determination cascades in insects are diversified at the top of the cascade, where different primary molecular signals are employed, while at the bottom of the cascades, particularly the doublesex genes, are highly conserved. Here, we identified the doublesex ortholog (Btau-dsx) of Bactrocera tau, a pumpkin fruit fly, and found that Btau-dsx is composed of six exons and five introns with an additional short "m" exon located in the second intron. Btau-dsx is different from its orthologs in most dipteran insects: Its pre-mRNA is sex-specifically spliced to yield three (two male and one female) instead of two transcript variants. The two deduced proteins produced by the male-specific transcripts are a functional (Btau-DSXM1) and a truncated (Btau-DSXM2) protein, while the female-specific transcript produces the functional Btau-DSXF protein. These three proteins contain all conserved domains except Btau-DSXM2 which has no OD2 domain. The female-specific transcript is detected in both fertilized and unfertilized eggs and in both somatic and germ cells of the adult females, while the male-specific transcript is detected only in fertilized eggs and in the abdominal tissues and testes of adult males. The presence of the Btau-dsxM1 transcript in fertilized eggs at the early syncytium stage suggests that in XY embryos, the Y-linked M factor gene may function quite soon after fertilization to alter the splicing pattern of Btau-dsx pre-mRNA from the female-specific to the male-specific mode. Injection of Btau-dsxF dsRNA into recently emerging females can reduce the expression of vitellogenin (Btau-Vg) and causes some defects in the ovaries, indicating that Btau-dsxF works upstream of Btau-Vg., Thanaset Thongsaiklaing, Hataichanok Passara, Mingkwan Nipitwathanaphon, Lertluk Ngersiri., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Bisexual gonads in the stoneflies Perla burimeisteriana, P. pallida and Dinocras cephalotes are reported for the first time. Gross morphology and ultrastructure of the accessory ovaries of mature larvae and adult males of Perla marginata are described in detail. There are 36-58 male ovarioles situated distal to the paired testes and opening into fused termini of the lateral ducts in abdominal segments II and III. These correspond in structure to the ovarioles of adult females but are significantly smaller (maximum size of proximal oocyte 9.0 × 45 µm) and each usually contains 10-14 linearly arranged previtellogenic oocytes. Oogenesis ceases at the end of previtellogenesis or at the onset of vitellogenesis. The ooplasm contains either regularly dispersed or irregularly accumulated particles in different regions of the cell with accumulations occurring near mitochondria and Golgi complexes. Based on results of metachromatic staining, these are thought to represent either lipid droplets (most) or yolk globules. The oolemma rarely develops short microvili and few pycnotic vesicles. Development of the follicular epithelium (influencing vitellogenesis and secretory activity during choriogenesis) is abnormal. Follicular cell growth is not synchronized with that of the oocytes, and the follicular cells of the terminal (distal) oocytes show neither patency nor secretory activity. The mechanism controlling degeneration of male ovarioles and the evolutionary significance of hermaphroditic gonads in the Plecoptera are discussed.
Iterativní postup určení pohlaví koster byl aplikován na souboru koster z minoritského kláštera v Mostě z pozdního středověku. Sestává z primárního určení pohlaví podle pánve a sekundární diagnózy extrapelvických znaků s výpočtem pravděpodobností, s jakými je kostra přiřaditelná k primárně určené (referenční) skupině mužů či naopak žen. Pomocí této metody jsme řešili otázku, zda byly v prostorách kláštera v Mostě pohřbeny i ženy. V souboru jsme detekovali podobné zastoupení koster obou pohlaví. and An iterative approach in sex determination was applied on the collection of human remains from the Late Medieval Most Minorite monastery. It consists of a primary diagnosis based on pelvic-bone and a secondary diagnosis based on extra-pelvic measurements with a calculation of posterior probabilities with which each skeleton is attributed to the reference (primary diagnosed) sample. By means of this strategy we have solved the question whether also females were buried in the Minorite monastery. We are able to unanimously state that the collection of human bones contains a similar proportion of male and female remains.
Vzhledem k značným rozdílům odhadu věku dožití uváděným pro kosterní pozůstatky jedince ztotožňovaného s knížetem Spytihněvem I. († 915) se autoři pokusili přehodnotit výsledky z hlediska reliability použitých metod a ukázat na některá jejich omezení vyplývající z rozvoje oboru. Užití metod antropologického určení pohlaví a odhadu věku dožití dle kostry musí provázet statistická indukce, při níž se uplatňují dva základní a zároveň protichůdně působící principy – přesnost a spolehlivost. Je úkolem biologického antropologa zvážit výpovědní hodnotu znaků, které jsou v konkrétním případě na skeletu zachovány, a nabídnout archeologovi takovou odpověď, která optimalizuje vztah přesnosti a spolehlivosti. Rozvoj znaků na kostře, která je přisuzována knížeti Spytihněvovi I., přesný a zároveň spolehlivý odhad dožití neumožňuje. Z těchto důvodů autoři považují oba předchozí odhady věku dožití za přesné, avšak značně nespolehlivé. V posledním desetiletí biologická antropologie dospěla k závěrům, že výpovědní hodnota metod odhadu věku dožití podle kostry neumožnuje tak přesné a spolehlivé zařazení jedinců do úzkých věkových tříd, jak se dříve praktikovalo. Tato skutečnost v důsledku omezuje i platnost výsledků některých postupů, jakož i kvantifikace úmrtnostních poměrů v pravěkých či středověkých populacích. and Given the pronounced differences in the estimates of the age at death of the skeletal remains of an individual identified with Prince Spytihněv I († 915), the authors attempted to reappraise the results from the point of view of the reliability of the methods used, and to show that the limitations of several spring from the development of the discipline. The anthropological methods of sex identification and estimation of age at death must be accompanied by statistical induction, in which two basic and antagonistic principles apply – precision and reliability. It is the task of the physical anthropologist to weight the value as evidence of the markers preserved on the skeleton in specific cases, and to offer the archaeologist an answer that optimises the relationship between precision and reliability. The development of the markers on the skeleton attributed to Spytihněv I does not allow for a precise and at the same time reliable estimate of age at death. For this reason, the authors hold both attempts at age estimation to date to be precise, but grossly unreliable. Over the last decade physical anthropology has advanced to conclude that the value as evidence of methods of age estimation from the skeleton does not allow such precise and reliable classification of individuals into narrow age categories, as was previously practised. The consequence of this fact is the limitation of the validity of the results of certain approaches, such as the quantification of mortality rates in prehistoric or medieval populations.
Although a monophyletic group, male (XX/XY) and female heterogametic (WZ/ZZ) sex chromosome systems with a couple of variants like XX/X, Z/ZZ and multiple sex chromosome systems occur in insects. Molecular and morphological differences between X and Y or W and Z range from imperceptible to conspicuous. This article illustrates sex chromosome differentiation mainly in two fly species, Drosophila melanogaster and Megaselia scalaris, and in Lepidoptera. The earliest phases of XY evolution are present in the fly M. scalaris. Occasionally in this species, the male determining gene jumps to another chromosome, transforming the new host chromosome to a functional Y chromosome. Thus, in M. scalaris there are strains with virtually no XY differentiation (except for the sex determining function) and others with a moderate degree of differentiation. Base substitutions and alterations like sequence deletions, duplications, and insertions of mobile sequences mark the onset of molecular differentiation. Accumulation of molecular changes and coarser alterations are thought to lead to the morphological differences seen in WZ chromosome pairs of Lepidoptera. The W chromosome probably evolved in the most numerous clade of Lepidoptera, the Ditrysia, after it diverged from the common lepidopteran stem. Extant species display various degrees of molecular and morphological differentiation of the W chromosome, translocation or fusion with autosomes, and loss of the W.