研究人员表示，哺乳动物的性别二态性状很常见，是在发育过程中通过部署性别特异性遗传程序而形成的。
由于人们对这些程序知之甚少，研究人员利用五种哺乳动物（人、小鼠、大鼠、兔子和负鼠）和一种鸟类（鸡）五个器官发育过程中，雄性和雌性的基因表达谱资源对其进行了研究。研究人员发现，不同器官和物种的性别基因表达差异很大，而且往往具有细胞类型特异性。性别差异在性成熟前后突然增加，而不是在器官发育过程中逐渐增加。最后，性别偏向基因表达在基因水平上演化迅速，不同器官所使用的演化机制不同，但在细胞水平上演化较慢，相同的细胞类型在不同物种间具有性别二态性。
附：英文原文
Title: Sex-biased gene expression across mammalian organ development and evolution
Author: Leticia Rodríguez-Montes, Svetlana Ovchinnikova, Xuefei Yuan, Tania Studer, Ioannis Sarropoulos, Simon Anders, Henrik Kaessmann, Margarida Cardoso-Moreira
Issue&Volume: 2023-11-03
Abstract: Sexually dimorphic traits are common among mammals and are specified during development through the deployment of sex-specific genetic programs. Because little is known about these programs, we investigated them using a resource of gene expression profiles in males and females throughout the development of five organs in five mammals (human, mouse, rat, rabbit, and opossum) and a bird (chicken). We found that sex-biased gene expression varied considerably across organs and species and was often cell-type specific. Sex differences increased abruptly around sexual maturity instead of increasing gradually during organ development. Finally, sex-biased gene expression evolved rapidly at the gene level, with differences between organs in the evolutionary mechanisms used, but more slowly at the cellular level, with the same cell types being sexually dimorphic across species.
DOI: adf1046
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf1046