Definition of Sex chromosome

1. Noun. (genetics) a chromosome that determines the sex of an individual. "Mammals normally have two sex chromosomes"

Generic synonyms: Chromosome
Specialized synonyms: X Chromosome, Xx, Xxx, Xxy, Xy, Xyy, Y Chromosome
Category relationships: Genetic Science, Genetics

Definition of Sex chromosome

1. Noun. (genetics) either of a pair of chromosomes (in most animals and plants) whose combination determines the sexual characteristics of an individual. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Sex chromosome

1. Chromosome that determines the sex of an animal. In humans, where the two sex chromosomes (X and Y) are dissimilar, the female has two X chromosomes and the male is heterogametic (XY). In birds, the opposite is the case, the male being XX and the female XY, in many organisms, there is only one sex chromosome and one sex is XX, the other X0. A portion of the X and Y chromosomes is similar and is known as the pseudoautosomal region. (14 Oct 1997)

Literary usage of Sex chromosome

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Biological Bulletin by Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, Mass.) (1916)
"The primary spermatocyte contains 12 bivalent autosomes and one sex-chromosome. The bivalents divide apparently along the line of their original junction ..."

2. Plant Genetics by John Merle Coulter, Merle Crowe Coulter (1918)
"It is obvious that in the female each egg receives one sex chromosome, ... In the male, however, with one sex chromosome, at the reduction division the ..."

3. The Physical Basis of Heredity by Thomas Hunt Morgan (1919)
"THE SEX-CHROMOSOME It will be convenient to treat the XX-XF type of combination first. I shall follow the usual custom of calling both X and Y ..."

4. The Physical Basis of Heredity by Thomas Hunt Morgan (1919)
"THE SEX-CHROMOSOME It will be convenient to treat the XX-XF type of combination first. I shall follow the usual custom of calling both X and Y ..."

5. Biological Bulletin by Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, Mass.) (1916)
"The primary spermatocyte contains 12 bivalent autosomes and one sex-chromosome. The bivalents divide apparently along the line of their original junction ..."

6. Plant Genetics by John Merle Coulter, Merle Crowe Coulter (1918)
"It is obvious that in the female each egg receives one sex chromosome, ... In the male, however, with one sex chromosome, at the reduction division the ..."

7. The Physical Basis of Heredity by Thomas Hunt Morgan (1919)
"THE SEX-CHROMOSOME It will be convenient to treat the XX-XF type of combination first. I shall follow the usual custom of calling both X and Y ..."

8. The Physical Basis of Heredity by Thomas Hunt Morgan (1919)
"THE SEX-CHROMOSOME It will be convenient to treat the XX-XF type of combination first. I shall follow the usual custom of calling both X and Y ..."

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