ZW sex-determination system

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The ZW sex-determination system is a system that determines the sex of offspring in birds, some fish, and some insects (including butterflies and moths). In the ZW system it is the ovum that determines the sex of the offspring, in contrast to the XY sex-determination system and the X0 sex-determination system. The letters Z and W are used to distinguish this system from XY system. Males are the homogametic sex (ZZ), while females are heterogametic (ZW). The Z chromosome is larger and has more genes, like the X chromosome in the XY system.

It is unknown whether the presence of the W chromosome induces female features or the duplication of the Z chromosome induces male ones; unlike mammals, no birds with a double W chromosome (ZWW) or a single Z (Z0) have been discovered. It is possible that either condition causes embryonic death, and both chromosomes are responsible for gender selection; or it may just be that ZWW is just as rare in birds as Turner's syndrome (XO) or Klinefelter's syndrome (XXY) is in humans, and without having any reason to check individual animals for this, it has never been found.

In Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies), examples of Z0, ZZW and ZZWW females can be found. This suggests that the W chromosome is essential in female determination in some species (ZZW), but not in others (Z0). In Bombyx mori (the commercial silkworm), the W chromosome carries the female-determining genes.

Chromosomes in the ZW region in birds are autosomal in mammals, and vice-versa; therefore, it is theorized that the ZW and XY couples come from different chromosomes of the common ancestor. A paper published in 2004 (Frank Grützner et al, Nature; doi:10.1038/nature03021) suggests that the two systems may be related. According to the paper, platypuses have a ten-chromosome–based system, where the chromosomes form a multivalent chain in male meiosis, segregating into XXXXX-sperm and YYYYY-sperm, with XY-equivalent chromosomes at one end of this chain and the ZW-equivalent chromosomes at the other end.