Cockroach sex determination chromosomes

[crepsis]

Some insects such as cockroaches, grasshoppers, and crickets have only one type of sex chromosome: X. This means that male and female cockroaches have a different number of chromosomes. This is very different from most organisms, which have either X and Y sex chromosomes (most people are familiar with these) or W and Z sex chromosomes (birds and some insects use these for sex determination).

Females have two of the same sex chromosomes (XX)

Males have just one sex chromosome (X0) <---The 'zero' is a place marker, it means that there is no second X chromosome there.

 

[Maarten..]

Interesting indeed, do you have more lecture on the subject?

 

[crepsis]

Unfortunately no, I've just been doing some research on the internet and found this piece of information interesting. I thought that it would be interesting for other people as well, since I had no idea that it was even possible for different sexes of the same species to have a different number of chromosomes! I found it in the abstract of a research paper on cockroach chromosomes, and I'm too cheap to pay for the whole article to read more, at this point, when I can probably find more related information for free with a little work. But, if I do run across anything else like this, I will definitely share it!

 

[BugmanPrice]

If you could get a link chances are I could get it for free for you. What's really cool is in some hermaphroditic species a XO is male and XX is a hermaphrodite. cool stuff.

Unfortunately no, I've just been doing some research on the internet and found this piece of information interesting. I thought that it would be interesting for other people as well, since I had no idea that it was even possible for different sexes of the same species to have a different number of chromosomes! I found it in the abstract of a research paper on cockroach chromosomes, and I'm too cheap to pay for the whole article to read more, at this point, when I can probably find more related information for free with a little work. But, if I do run across anything else like this, I will definitely share it!

 

[crepsis]

If you could get a link chances are I could get it for free for you. What's really cool is in some hermaphroditic species a XO is male and XX is a hermaphrodite. cool stuff.

Very cool stuff! Apparently, that was not in an abstract...I just assumed it was, because I had been reading so many that day, and the article was so short I guess it just all ran together in my head when I thought to post it here. It's actually an answer to a reader's question in 'India's National Newspaper' - The Hindu, by an Entomologist at AVRDC, The World Vegetable Center, Dr. R. Srinivasan, in Shanhua, Taiwan.