X-Chromosome Balance in Animals

X-chromosome balance in animals helps equalize gene expression between males and females. Sex can be determined by the number and type of sex chromosomes. In humans, females have two X chromosomes and males have one X and one Y chromosome. In C. elegans, one X chromosome is male, while two X chromosomes make a hermaphrodite....

In many organisms, females have two copies of an X chromosome, whereas males may have one X and one Y chromosome or one X chromosome. This means that the sexes differ in their dose of X chromosome genes.

Through a process called dosage compensation, an organism either upregulates or downregulates certain genes to equalize gene expression ...