Y chromosome

The sex chromosome found together with an X chromosome in most normal males. Once thought to be a genetic wasteland, the Y now is known to contain at least 20 genes, some of them unique to the Y including the male-determining gene and male fitness genes that are active only in the testis and are thought responsible for the formation of sperm. Other genes on the Y have counterparts on the X chromosome, are active in many body tissues and play crucial "housekeeping" roles with the cell. As of the year 2000, a number of specific genes have been Y-linked including: {{}}ASMTY (which stands for acetylserotonin methyltransferase), TSPY (testis-specific protein), IL3RAY (interleukin-3 receptor), SRY (sex-determining region), TDF (testis determining factor), ZFY (zinc finger protein), PRKY (protein kinase, Y-linked), AMGL (amelogenin), CSF2RY (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor, alpha subunit on the Y chromosome), ANT3Y (adenine nucleotide translocator-3 on the Y), AZF2 (azoospermia factor 2), BPY2 (basic protein on the Y chromosome), AZF1 (azoospermia factor 1), DAZ (deleted in azoospermia), RBM1 (RNA binding motif protein, Y chromosome, family 1, member A1), RBM2 (RNA binding motif protein 2) and UTY (ubiquitously transcribed TPR gene on Y chromosome).

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Y chromosome 'wī- n a sex chromosome that is characteristic of male cells in species in which the male typically has two unlike sex chromosomes compare X CHROMOSOME

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a sex chromosome that is present in men but not in women; it is believed to carry the genes for maleness. Compare X chromosome.

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the sex chromosome present in male somatic cells, but not female, of organisms in which the male is the heterogametic sex, as in humans; it is carried by half the male gametes and none of the female gametes.