Sex

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about sex in sexually
reproducing organisms. For the act,
see Sexual intercourse. For other uses,
see Sex (disambiguation).
Part of a series on
Sex

Biological terms
 Sexual dimorphism
 Sexual differentiation
 Feminization

 Virilization

 Sex-determination
system
 XY

 X0
 ZW 

 Z0

 Temperature-dependent
 Haplodiploidy

 Heterogametic sex
 Homogametic sex

 Sex chromosome

 X chromosome

 Y chromosome

 Testis-determining factor
 Hermaphrodite

 Sequential

hermaphroditism

 Intersex
Sexual reproduction
 Evolution of sexual

reproduction
 Anisogamy

 Isogamy

 Germ cell
 Meiosis
  Gametogenesis
 Spermatogenesis
 Oogenesis

 Gamete
 spermatozoon
 ovum

Fertilization


 External fertilization
 Internal fertilization

Sexual selection
 Plant reproduction

 Fungal reproduction

 Sexual reproduction in

animals
 Sexual intercourse

 Copulation

 Human reproduction

Sexuality
 Plant sexuality

 Animal sexuality

 Human sexuality

 Mechanics
  Differentiation
 Activity

 Sex portal
 Biology portal
 v
 t
 e
Organisms of many species are specialized
into male and female varieties, each known
as a sex.[1][2] Sexual reproduction involves
the combining and mixing of genetic traits:
specialized cells known
as gametes combine to form offspring that
inherit traits from each parent. The gametes
produced by an organism define its sex:
males produce small gametes (e.g.
spermatozoa, or sperm, in
animals; pollen in seed plants) while
females produce large gametes (ova, or
egg cells). Individual organisms which
produce both male and female gametes are
termed hermaphroditic.[2] Gametes can be
identical in form and function (known
as isogamy), but, in many cases, an
asymmetry has evolved such that two
different types of gametes (heterogametes)
exist (known as anisogamy).
Physical differences are often associated
with the different sexes of an organism;
these sexual dimorphisms can reflect the
different reproductive pressures the sexes
experience. For instance, mate
choice and sexual selectioncan accelerate
the evolution of physical differences
between the sexes.
Among humans and other mammals, males
typically carry XY chromosomes, whereas
females typically carry XX chromosomes,
which are a part of the XY sex-
determination system. Other animals have
different sex-determination systems, such
as the ZW system in birds, the X0 system in
insects, and various environmental
systems, for example in
crustaceans. Fungi may also have more
complex allelic mating systems, with sexes
not accurately described as male, female,
or hermaphroditic.[3]
Overview

The male gamete (sperm) fertilizing the

female gamete (ovum)
One of the basic properties of life is
reproduction, the capacity to generate new
individuals, and sex is an aspect of this
process. Life has evolved from simple
stages to more complex ones, and so have
the reproduction mechanisms. Initially the
reproduction was a replicating process that
consists in producing new individuals that
contain the same genetic information as the
original or parent individual. This mode of
reproduction is called asexual, and it is still
used by many species, particularly
unicellular, but it is also very common in
multicellular organisms, including many of
those with sexual reproduction.[4] In sexual
reproduction, the genetic material of the
offspring comes from two different
individuals. As sexual reproduction
developed by way of a long process of
evolution, intermediates exist. Bacteria, for
instance, reproduce asexually, but undergo
a process by which a part of the genetic
material of an individual donor is transferred
to another recipient.[5]
Disregarding intermediates, the basic
distinction between asexual and sexual
reproduction is the way in which the genetic
material is processed. Typically, prior to an
asexual division, a cell duplicates its
genetic information content, and then
divides. This process of cell division is
called mitosis. In sexual reproduction, there
are special kinds of cells that divide without
prior duplication of its genetic material, in a
process named meiosis. The resulting cells
are called gametes, and contain only half
the genetic material of the parent cells.
These gametes are the cells that are
prepared for the sexual reproduction of the
organism.[6] Sex comprises the
arrangements that enable sexual
reproduction, and has evolved alongside
the reproduction system, starting with
similar gametes (isogamy) and progressing
to systems that have different gamete
types, such as those involving a large
female gamete (ovum) and a small male
gamete (sperm).[7]
In complex organisms, the sex organs are
the parts that are involved in the production
and exchange of gametes in sexual
reproduction. Many species, both plants
and animals, have sexual specialization,
and their populations are divided into male
and female individuals. Conversely, there
are also species in which there is no sexual
specialization, and the same individuals
both contain masculine and feminine
reproductive organs, and they are
called hermaphrodites. This is very frequent
in plants.[8]
Evolution
Main article: Evolution of sexual
reproduction
Different forms of anisogamy:
A) anisogamy of motile cells, B) oogamy
(egg cell and sperm cell), C) anisogamy of
non-motile cells (egg cell and spermatia).

Different forms of isogamy:

A) isogamy of motile cells, B) isogamy of
non-motile cells, C) conjugation.
Sexual reproduction first probably evolved
about a billion years ago within ancestral
single-celled eukaryotes.[9] The reason for
the evolution of sex, and the reason(s) it
has survived to the present, are still matters
of debate. Some of the many plausible
theories include: that sex creates variation
among offspring, sex helps in the spread of
advantageous traits, that sex helps in the
removal of disadvantageous traits, and that
sex facilitates repair of germ-line DNA.
Sexual reproduction is a process specific
to eukaryotes, organisms whose cells
contain a nucleus and mitochondria. In
addition to animals, plants, and fungi, other
eukaryotes (e.g. the malaria parasite) also
engage in sexual reproduction. Some
bacteria use conjugation to transfer genetic
material between cells; while not the same
as sexual reproduction, this also results in
the mixture of genetic traits.
The defining characteristic of sexual
reproduction in eukaryotes is the difference
between the gametes and the binary nature
of fertilization. Multiplicity of gamete types
within a species would still be considered a
form of sexual reproduction. However, no
third gamete type is known in multicellular
plants or animals.[10][11][12]
While the evolution of sex dates to the
prokaryote or early eukaryote stage,[13] the
origin of chromosomal sex
determination may have been fairly early in
eukaryotes (see Evolution of anisogamy).
The ZW sex-determination systemis shared
by birds, some fish and some crustaceans.
XY sex determination is used by most
mammals,[14] but also some insects,[15] and
plants (Silene latifolia).[16] X0 sex-
determination is found in certain insects.
No genes are shared between the avian
ZW and mammal XY chromosomes,[17] and
from a comparison between chicken and
human, the Z chromosome appeared
similar to the autosomal chromosome 9 in
human, rather than X or Y, suggesting that
the ZW and XY sex-determination systems
do not share an origin, but that the sex
chromosomes are derived from autosomal
chromosomes of the common ancestor of
birds and mammals. A paper from 2004
compared the chicken Z chromosome
with platypus X chromosomes and
suggested that the two systems are
related.[18]
Sexual reproduction
Main article: Sexual reproduction
Further
information: Isogamy and Anisogamy

The life cycle of sexually reproducing

organisms cycles through haploid and
diploid stages
Sexual reproduction in eukaryotes is a
process whereby organisms form offspring
that combine genetic traits from both
parents. Chromosomes are passed on from
one generation to the next in this process.
Each cell in the offspring has half the
chromosomes of the mother and half of the
father.[19] Genetic traits are contained within
the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
of chromosomes—by combining one of
each type of chromosomes from each
parent, an organism is formed containing a
doubled set of chromosomes. This double-
chromosome stage is called "diploid", while
the single-chromosome stage is "haploid".
Diploid organisms can, in turn, form haploid
cells (gametes) that randomly contain one
of each of the chromosome pairs,
via meiosis.[20] Meiosis also involves a
stage of chromosomal crossover, in which
regions of DNA are exchanged between
matched types of chromosomes, to form a
new pair of mixed chromosomes. Crossing
over and fertilization (the recombining of
single sets of chromosomes to make a new
diploid) result in the new organism
containing a different set of genetic traits
from either parent.
In many organisms, the haploid stage has
been reduced to just gametes specialized
to recombine and form a new diploid
organism; in others, such as cryptogamic
plants the gametes are capable of
undergoing cell division to
produce multicellular haploid organisms. In
either case, gametes may be externally
similar, particularly in size (isogamy), or
may have evolved an asymmetry such that
the gametes are different in size and other
aspects (anisogamy).[21] By convention, the
larger gamete (called an ovum, or egg cell)
is considered female, while the smaller
gamete (called a spermatozoon, or sperm
cell) is considered male. An individual that
produces exclusively large gametes is
female, and one that produces exclusively
small gametes is male.[citation needed] An
individual that produces both types of
gametes is a hermaphrodite; in some cases
hermaphrodites are able to self-fertilize and
produce offspring on their own, without a
second organism.[22]
Animals
Main article: Sexual reproduction in animals

Hoverflies mating
Most sexually reproducing animals spend
their lives as diploid, with the haploid stage
reduced to single-cell gametes.[23] The
gametes of animals have male and female
forms—spermatozoa and egg cells. These
gametes combine to form embryos which
develop into a new organism.
The male gamete,
a spermatozoon (produced in vertebrates
within the testes), is a small cell containing
a single long flagellum which propels
it.[24] Spermatozoa are extremely reduced
cells, lacking many cellular components
that would be necessary for embryonic
development. They are specialized for
motility, seeking out an egg cell and fusing
with it in a process called fertilization.
Female gametes are egg cells (produced in
vertebrates within the ovaries), large
immobile cells that contain the nutrients and
cellular components necessary for a
developing embryo.[25] Egg cells are often
associated with other cells which support
the development of the embryo, forming
an egg. In mammals, the fertilized embryo
instead develops within the female,
receiving nutrition directly from its mother.
Animals are usually mobile and seek out a
partner of the opposite sex for mating.
Animals which live in the water can mate
using external fertilization, where the eggs
and sperm are released into and combine
within the surrounding water.[26] Most
animals that live outside of water, however,
use internal fertilization, transferring sperm
directly from to female to prevent the
gametes from drying up.
In most birds, both excretion and
reproduction is done through a single
posterior opening, called the cloaca—male
and female birds touch cloaca to transfer
sperm, a process called "cloacal
kissing".[27] In many other terrestrial
animals, males use specialized sex organs
to assist the transport of sperm—
these male sex organs are
called intromittent organs. In humans and
other mammals this male organ is
the penis, which enters the female
reproductive tract (called the vagina) to
achieve insemination—a process
called sexual intercourse. The penis
contains a tube through which semen (a
fluid containing sperm) travels. In female
mammals the vagina connects with
the uterus, an organ which directly supports
the development of a fertilized embryo
within (a process called gestation).
Because of their motility, animal sexual
behavior can involve coercive
sex. Traumatic insemination, for example,
is used by some insect species to
inseminate females through a wound in the
abdominal cavity—a process detrimental to
the female's health.
Plants

Flowers are the sexual organs of flowering

plants, usually containing both male and
female parts.
Main article: Plant reproduction
Like animals, plants have developed
specialized male and female
gametes.[28] Within seed plants, male
gametes are contained within hard coats,
forming pollen. The female gametes of
seed plants are contained within ovules;
once fertilized by pollen these
form seeds which, like eggs, contain the
nutrients necessary for the development of
the embryonic plant.

Female (left) and male (right) cones are the

sex organs of pines and other conifers.
Many plants have flowers and these are the
sexual organs of those plants. Flowers are
usually hermaphroditic, producing both
male and female gametes. The female
parts, in the center of a flower, are
the pistils, each unit consisting of a carpel,
a style and a stigma. One or more of these
reproductive units may be merged to form a
single compound pistil. Within the carpels
are ovules which develop into seeds after
fertilization. The male parts of the flower are
the stamens: these consist of long filaments
arranged between the pistil and the petals
that produce pollen in anthers at their tips.
When a pollen grain lands upon the stigma
on top of a carpel's style, it germinates to
produce a pollen tube that grows down
through the tissues of the style into the
carpel, where it delivers male gamete nuclei
to fertilize an ovule that eventually develops
into a seed.
In pines and other conifers the sex organs
are conifer cones and have male and
female forms. The more familiar female
cones are typically more durable,
containing ovules within them. Male cones
are smaller and produce pollen which is
transported by wind to land in female
cones. As with flowers, seeds form within
the female cone after pollination.
Because plants are immobile, they depend
upon passive methods for transporting
pollen grains to other plants. Many plants,
including conifers and grasses, produce
lightweight pollen which is carried by wind
to neighboring plants. Other plants have
heavier, sticky pollen that is specialized for
transportation by insects. The plants attract
these insects or larger animals such
as humming birds and bats with nectar-
containing flowers. These animals transport
the pollen as they move to other flowers,
which also contain female reproductive
organs, resulting in pollination.
Fungi
Main article: Mating in fungi

Mushrooms are produced as part of fungal

sexual reproduction
Most fungi reproduce sexually, having both
a haploid and diploid stage in their life
cycles. These fungi are
typically isogamous, lacking male and
female specialization: haploid fungi grow
into contact with each other and then fuse
their cells. In some of these cases, the
fusion is asymmetric, and the cell which
donates only a nucleus (and not
accompanying cellular material) could
arguably be considered "male".[29] Fungi
may also have more complex allelic mating
systems, with other sexes not accurately
described as male, female, or
hermaphroditic.[3]
Some fungi, including baker's yeast,
have mating types that create a duality
similar to male and female roles. Yeast with
the same mating type will not fuse with
each other to form diploid cells, only with
yeast carrying the other mating type.[30]
Many species of higher
fungi produce mushrooms as part of
their sexual reproduction. Within the
mushroom diploid cells are formed, later
dividing into haploid spores. The height of
the mushroom aids the dispersal of these
sexually produced offspring.[citation needed]
Sex determination
Main article: Sex-determination system
Sex helps the spread of advantageous
traits through recombination. The diagrams
compare evolution of allele frequency in a
sexual population (top) and an asexual
population (bottom). The vertical axis
shows frequency and the horizontal axis
shows time. The alleles a/A and b/B occur
at random. The advantageous alleles A and
B, arising independently, can be rapidly
combined by sexual reproduction into the
most advantageous combination AB.
Asexual reproduction takes longer to
achieve this combination, because it can
only produce AB if A arises in an individual
which already has B, or vice versa.
The most basic sexual system is one in
which all organisms are hermaphrodites,
producing both male and female gametes—
[citation needed]
this is true of some animals (e.g.
snails) and the majority of flowering
plants.[31] In many cases, however,
specialization of sex has evolved such that
some organisms produce only male or only
female gametes. The biological cause for
an organism developing into one sex or the
other is called sex determination.
In the majority of species with sex
specialization, organisms are either male
(producing only male gametes) or female
(producing only female gametes).
Exceptions are common—for example, the
roundworm C. elegans has an
hermaphrodite and a male sex (a system
called androdioecy).
Sometimes an organism's development is
intermediate between male and female, a
condition called intersex. Sometimes
intersex individuals are called
"hermaphrodite"; but, unlike biological
hermaphrodites, intersex individuals are
unusual cases and are not typically fertile in
both male and female aspects.
Genetic

Like humans and other mammals, the

common fruit fly has an XY sex-
determination system.
In genetic sex-determination systems, an
organism's sex is determined by the
genome it inherits. Genetic sex-
determination usually depends on
asymmetrically inherited sex chromosomes
which carry genetic features that
influence development; sex may be
determined either by the presence of a sex
chromosome or by how many the organism
has. Genetic sex-determination, because it
is determined by chromosome assortment,
usually results in a 1:1 ratio of male and
female offspring.
Humans and other mammals have an XY
sex-determination system: the Y
chromosome carries factors responsible for
triggering male development. The "default
sex," in the absence of a Y chromosome, is
female-like. Thus, XX mammals are female
and XY are male. In humans, biological sex
is determined by five factors present at
birth: the presence or absence of a Y
chromosome (which alone determines the
individual's genetic sex), the type
of gonads, the sex hormones, the internal
reproductive anatomy (such as the uterus in
females), and the external genitalia.[32]
XY sex determination is found in other
organisms, including the common fruit
fly and some plants.[31] In some cases,
including in the fruit fly, it is the number of X
chromosomes that determines sex rather
than the presence of a Y chromosome (see
below).
In birds, which have a ZW sex-
determination system, the opposite is true:
the W chromosome carries factors
responsible for female development, and
default development is male.[33] In this case
ZZ individuals are male and ZW are female.
The majority of butterflies and moths also
have a ZW sex-determination system. In
both XY and ZW sex determination
systems, the sex chromosome carrying the
critical factors is often significantly smaller,
carrying little more than the genes
necessary for triggering the development of
a given sex.[34]
Many insects use a sex determination
system based on the number of sex
chromosomes. This is called X0 sex-
determination—the 0 indicates the absence
of the sex chromosome. All other
chromosomes in these organisms are
diploid, but organisms may inherit one or
two X chromosomes. In field crickets, for
example, insects with a single X
chromosome develop as male, while those
with two develop as female.[35] In the
nematode C. elegans most worms are self-
fertilizing XX hermaphrodites, but
occasionally abnormalities in chromosome
inheritance regularly give rise to individuals
with only one X chromosome—these X0
individuals are fertile males (and half their
offspring are male).[36]
Other insects, including honey
bees and ants, use a haplodiploid sex-
determination system.[37] In this case,
diploid individuals are generally female, and
haploid individuals (which develop from
unfertilized eggs) are male. This sex-
determination system results in highly
biased sex ratios, as the sex of offspring is
determined by fertilization rather than the
assortment of chromosomes during
meiosis.
Nongenetic

Clownfishes are initially male; the largest

fish in a group becomes female
Main article: Environmental sex
determination
For many species, sex is not determined by
inherited traits, but instead by
environmental factors experienced during
development or later in life. Many reptiles
have temperature-dependent sex
determination: the temperature embryos
experience during their development
determines the sex of the organism. In
some turtles, for example, males are
produced at lower incubation temperatures
than females; this difference in critical
temperatures can be as little as 1–2 °C.
Many fish change sex over the course of
their lifespan, a phenomenon
called sequential hermaphroditism.
In clownfish, smaller fish are male, and the
dominant and largest fish in a group
becomes female. In many wrasses the
opposite is true—most fish are initially
female and become male when they reach
a certain size. Sequential hermaphrodites
may produce both types of gametes over
the course of their lifetime, but at any given
point they are either female or male.
In some ferns the default sex is
hermaphrodite, but ferns which grow in soil
that has previously supported
hermaphrodites are influenced by residual
hormones to instead develop as male.[38]
Sexual dimorphism
Main article: Sexual dimorphism

Common pheasants are sexually

dimorphic in both size and appearance.
Many animals and some plants have
differences between the male and female
sexes in size and appearance, a
phenomenon called sexual
dimorphism. Sex differences in
humans include, generally, a larger size
and more body hair in men; women have
breasts, wider hips, and a higher body fat
percentage. In other species, the
differences may be more extreme, such as
differences in coloration or bodyweight.
Sexual dimorphisms in animals are often
associated with sexual selection – the
competition between individuals of one sex
to mate with the opposite sex.[39] Antlers in
male deer, for example, are used in combat
between males to win reproductive access
to female deer. In many cases the male of a
species is larger than the female. Mammal
species with extreme sexual size
dimorphism tend to have
highly polygynous mating systems—
presumably due to selection for success
in competition with other males—such as
the elephant seals. Other examples
demonstrate that it is the preference of
females that drive sexual dimorphism, such
as in the case of the stalk-eyed fly.[40]
Other animals, including most insects and
many fish, have larger females. This may
be associated with the cost of producing
egg cells, which requires more nutrition
than producing sperm—larger females are
able to produce more eggs.[41] For example,
female southern black widow spiders are
typically twice as long as the
males.[42] Occasionally this dimorphism is
extreme, with males reduced to living
as parasites dependent on the female, such
as in the anglerfish. Some plant species
also exhibit dimorphism in which the
females are significantly larger than the
males, such as in the
moss Dicranum[43] and the
liverwort Sphaerocarpos.[44] There is some
evidence that, in these genera, the
dimorphism may be tied to a sex
chromosome,[44][45] or to chemical signalling
from females.[46]
In birds, males often have a
more colourful appearance and may have
features (like the long tail of male
peacocks) that would seem to put the
organism at a disadvantage (e.g. bright
colors would seem to make a bird more
visible to predators). One proposed
explanation for this is the handicap
principle.[47] This hypothesis says that, by
demonstrating he can survive with such
handicaps, the male is advertising
his genetic fitness to females—traits that
will benefit daughters as well, who will not
be encumbered with such handicaps.

See also
 Sex and gender distinction
 Sex assignment
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Further reading
 Ainsworth, Claire (2015). (19 February
2015). "Sex redefined: The idea of two
sexes is simplistic. Biologists now think
there is a wider spectrum than
that". Nature. 518 (7539): 288–
291. doi:10.1038/518288a.
 Arnqvist, G.; Rowe, L. (2005). Sexual
conflict. Princeton University
Press. ISBN 0-691-12217-2.
 Alberts, B; Johnson, A; Lewis, J; Raff, M;
Roberts, K; Walter, P (2002). Molecular
Biology of the Cell (4th ed.). New York:
Garland Science. ISBN 0-8153-3218-1.
 Ellis, Havelock (1933). Psychology of
Sex. London: W. Heinemann Medical
Books. N.B.: One of many books by this
pioneering authority on aspects of human
sexuality.
 Gilbert, SF (2000). Developmental
Biology (6th ed.). Sinauer Associates,
Inc. ISBN 0-87893-243-7.
 Maynard-Smith, J. (1978). The Evolution
of Sex. Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 978-0521293020