Sex in Dragons: The molecular basis of genetic and environmental sex determination

动物如何决定性别已经争论了几十年。特别神秘的是，一些动物的性别是由基因决定的，而另一些动物的性别是由温度决定的。我们将研究通过基因（GSD）或温度（TSD）决定性别的近亲龙蜥蜴。我们将使用新的遗传、分子和细胞学方法来发现GSD物种中控制性别决定的基因和染色体，并探索它们在TSD物种中的同源物。我们期望这项研究能为所有脊椎动物的性别决定机制提供新的见解，并展示基因和环境如何相互作用来控制这一过程。

How animals determine sex has been debated over decades. Particularly mysterious is that sex is determined by genes in some animals, and by temperature in others. We will study closely related dragon lizards which determine sex via genes (GSD) or temperature (TSD). We will use novel genetic, molecular and cytological aproaches to discover genes and chromosomes that control sex determination in the GSD species, and explore their homologues in the TSD species. We expect this study will provide new insights to mechanisms of sex determination in all vertebrates, and demonstrate how genes and the environment interact to control the process.