Spectrum of Sex: The Molecular Bases That Induce Various Sexual Phenotypes

This book introduces cutting-edge studies on the spectrum of sex. The sex spectrum can be understood as an interwoven mechanism sustaining graded phenotypes between the two sexes.

The book overviews three elements that develop the sex spectrum: genetics, the endocrine system, and the environment. Part I discusses the genetic regulation during sex determination, which often results in a mixture of two sexes or sex reversal. The evolutionary aspects of the genetic determinants are also discussed. Part II presents the involvement of endocrine regulation in the sex spectrum, which covers a broad range of phenotypic events, including sexual behavior and metabolism. Interestingly, sex hormones can also act as sex determinants. Finally, Part III shows that intrinsic factors, such as sex-determining genes and sex hormones, are not the only factors in sex development. The environment surrounding organisms, such as symbiosis and metabolism, act on the sex as critical factors, generating the sex spectrum.

Determination and development of the two sexes have been a topic of great interest and a long-standing issue in biology. The book updates the conventional view that biological sex is fixed after birth and sets new perspectives for understanding sex as a spectrum manifested in multiple phenomena. Each chapter contributed by leading experts explains the sex spectrum in various organisms and their underlying mechanisms from the latest ongoing studies. The book provides a valuable resource for not only experts in developmental biology, physiology, and medical science, but also non-scientists and anyone interested in the topic.

Minoru Tanaka has been a Professor at the Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Japan since 2016. His research interests include reproduction, especially the mechanisms of sex determination and gametogenesis. Makoto Tachibana has been a Professor at the Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Japan since 2018. His research interests include epigenetics, especially the epigenetic regulation of mammalian sex determination.