‘Y’ Chromosome regulates Genes on other Chromosomes: CCMB

• 20 Sep 2021

A recent study by a team of geneticists from Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad has revealed that the ‘Y chromosome’ has some other functions as well other than sex determination.

• The research suggests that beyond determining the gender of a person, the Y chromosome also regulates genes on other chromosomes involved in male reproduction.
• Research has shown a bunch of DNA repeats on mouse Y chromosome, which regulate genes expressed from other chromosomes in testis, specifically those required in reproduction. They also showed that these repeats are species-specific; they are not present in other species. These repeats give rise to a class of small RNAs called piRNAs. This is the first report of piRNAs from Y chromosomes.