What does sex linkage mean?

Definitions for sex linkage
sex link·age

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word sex linkage.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. sex linkagenoun

    an association between genes in sex chromosomes that makes some characteristics appear more frequently in one sex than in the other

Wikipedia

  1. Sex linkage

    Sex linked describes the sex-specific patterns of inheritance and presentation when a gene mutation (allele) is present on a sex chromosome (allosome) rather than a non-sex chromosome (autosome). In humans, these are termed X-linked recessive, X-linked dominant and Y-linked. The inheritance and presentation of all three differ depending on the sex of both the parent and the child. This makes them characteristically different from autosomal dominance and recessiveness. There are many more X-linked conditions than Y-linked conditions, since humans have several times as many genes on the X chromosome than the Y chromosome. Only females are able to be carriers for X-linked conditions; males will always be affected by any X-linked condition, since they have no second X chromosome with a healthy copy of the gene. As such, X-linked recessive conditions affect males much more commonly than females. In X-linked recessive inheritance, a son born to a carrier mother and an unaffected father has a 50% chance of being affected, while a daughter has a 50% chance of being a carrier, however a fraction of carriers may display a milder (or even full) form of the condition due to a phenomenon known as skewed X-inactivation, in which the normal process of inactivating half of the female body's X chromosomes preferably targets a certain parent's X chromosome (the father's in this case). If the father is affected, the son will not be affected, as he does not inherit the father's X chromosome, but the daughter will always be a carrier (and may occasionally present with symptoms due to aforementioned skewed X-inactivation). In X-linked dominant inheritance, a son or daughter born to an affected mother and an unaffected father both have a 50% chance of being affected (though a few X-linked dominant conditions are embryonic lethal for the son, making them appear to only occur in females). If the father is affected, the son will always be unaffected, but the daughter will always be affected. A Y-linked condition will only be inherited from father to son and will always affect every generation. The inheritance patterns are different in animals that use sex-determination systems other than XY. In the ZW sex-determination system used by birds, the mammalian pattern is reversed, since the male is the homogametic sex (ZZ) and the female is heterogametic (ZW). In classical genetics, a mating experiment called a reciprocal cross is performed to test if an animal's trait is sex-linked.

Wikidata

  1. Sex linkage

    Sex linkage is the phenotypic expression of an allele related to the chromosomal sex of the individual. This mode of inheritance is in contrast to the inheritance of traits on autosomal chromosomes, where both sexes have the same probability of inheritance. Since humans have many more genes on the X than the Y, there are many more X-linked traits than Y-linked traits. In mammals, the female is the homogametic sex, with two X chromosomes, while the male is heterogametic, with one X and one Y chromosome. Genes on the X or Y chromosome are called sex-linked. In birds, the opposite is true: the male is the homogametic sex, having two Z chromosomes, and the female is heterogametic, having one Z and one W chromosome. X-linked recessive traits are expressed in all heterogametics, but are only expressed in those homogametics that are homozygous for the recessive allele. For example, an X-linked recessive allele in humans causes hemophilia. Hemophilia is much more common in males than females because males are hemizygous - they only have one copy of the gene in question - and therefore express the trait when they inherit one mutant allele. In contrast, a female must inherit two mutant alleles, a less frequent event since the mutant allele is rare in the population. Tsarevich Alexei of Russia was the most famous sufferer of X-linked hemophilia.¹¹

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of sex linkage in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of sex linkage in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8


Translations for sex linkage

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • セックスリンケージJapanese
  • جنسی تعلقاتUrdu

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"sex linkage." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/sex+linkage>.

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