Ministery of Education

Private Education

Centro Bilinge Vista Alegre

Third Quarter

Sex Chromosomes

Student:
Leticia Velsquez Rodrguez

Teacher:
Fernando Moran
 Index
1. Sex chromosomes.

2. Genetic.

3. Biodiversity.

4. Biodiversity of Panam.

5. Illustrations.

6. Conclusion.

7. Infography
 Introduction
Genetics is the study of how living things receive common traits from previous generations. These traits are
described by the genetic information carried by a molecule called DNA. The instructions for constructing and
operating an organism are contained in the organism's DNA. Every living thing on earth has DNA in its cells. A
gene is a hereditary unit consisting of DNA that occupies a spot on a chromosome and determines a
characteristic in an organism.
 Sex-Chromosomes
Sex chromosomes are particular chromosomes that are involved in determining the sex of an organism. In the
cells of humans and many other organisms the sex chromosomes consist of a pair of chromosomes called the X
and Y chromosomes. The X and Y chromosomes were first discovered in beetles by Nettie Stevens in 1906. She
noticed that cells of female beetles had identical looking pairs of each of their several chromosomes, but that
male beetles had one pair in which the chromosomes were very different in appearance from each other. She
called these two chromosomes the X and the Y, and found that female beetles differed from males in containing
two X chromosomes. The same situation is also found in humans where females are XX and males are XY.

A Barr body_a condensed X chromosome_in a female squamous epithelium cell at interphase.

A Barr body_a condensed X chromosome_in a female squamous epithelium cell at interphase.
The X and Y chromosomes in humans are also very different in appearance, with the X chromosome being
considerably larger than the Y. With the exception of only about nine shared genes , the X and Y chromosomes
do not contain the same genes, unlike the other twenty-two pairs of human chromosomes in which members of
a pair share all the same genes. The Y chromosome contains the genes for determining a male pattern of
development, and in the absence of a Y chromosome an embryo will follow a female pattern of development.

The sex of an individual is determined by which paternal sex chromosome (X or Y) is inherited at fertilization .
Eggs and sperm, as reproductive cells, each contain only one of the two sex chromosomes as a result of having
undergone meiosis , a form of cell division that produces daughter cells containing only one member of each
chromosome pair. All eggs therefore contain an X chromosome, but half of sperm will contain an X
chromosome and the other half a Y chromosome. If an egg is fertilized by a sperm carrying an X chromosome
an XX or female embryo will result, while fertilization of the egg by a Y-bearing sperm will produce an XY or
male embryo. In some organisms, including birds, the female contains the unlike pair of sex chromosomes.
Thus, in these cases the mother determines the sex of the offspring.

Since cells in a male contain a single X chromosome and cells in a female contain two X chromosomes, females
contain twice as many copies of the genes on the X chromosome per cell as do males. To equalize the dosage of
X chromosome genes between the two sexes, one of the two X chromosomes in each cell of all female
mammals is inactivated early in embryonic development by becoming very tightly wound up or condensed.
Most of the genes on the condensed X chromosome cannot be expressed. Since males carry only one copy of
each X-linked gene, they are much more likely to suffer from disease if they inherit a defective gene. X-linked
disorders include some forms of color blindness, Duchenne's muscular distrophy, and some types of
hemophilia.
The inactivation of an X chromosome in the cells of a developing female embryo occurs randomly, so that
about half of the cells express the genes in one X chromosome and half express the genes in the other X
chromosome. Once a particular X chromosome has been inactivated in a cell, it will remain inactivated in all of
the descendants of that cell. If a female mammal has different forms or alleles of a particular gene on each of
her two X chromosomes, then about half of her cells will express one of the alleles and about half the other
allele.
 Genetic
Genetics is the study of heredity. Heredity is a biological process where a parent passes certain genes onto their
children or offspring. Every child inherits genes from both of their biological parents and these genes in turn
express specific traits. Some of these traits may be physical for example hair and eye color and skin color etc.
On the other hand some genes may also carry the risk of certain diseases and disorders that may pass on from
parents to their offspring.
Genes in the cell
The genetic information lies within the cell nucleus of each living cell in the body. The information can be
considered to be retained in a book for example. Part of this book with the genetic information comes from the
father while the other part comes from the mother.
Chromosomes
The genes lie within the chromosomes. Humans have 23 pairs of these small thread-like structures in the
nucleus of their cells. 23 or half of the total 46 comes from the mother while the other 23 comes from the father.
The chromosomes contain genes just like pages of a book. Some chromosomes may carry thousands of
important genes while some may carry only a few. The chromosomes, and therefore the genes, are made up of
the chemical substance called DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid). The chromosomes are very long thin strands of
DNA, coiled up tightly.
At one point along their length, each chromosome has a constriction, called the centromere. The centromere
divides the chromosomes into two arms: a long arm and a short arm. Chromosomes are numbered from 1 to
22 and these are common for both sexes and called autosomes. There are also two chromosomes that have been
given the letters X and Y and termed sex chromosomes. The X chromosome is much larger than the Y
chromosome.
Chemical bases
The genes are further made up of unique codes of chemical bases comprising of A, T, C and G (Adenine,
Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine). These chemical bases make up combinations with permutations and
combinations. These are akin to the words on a page.
These chemical bases are part of the DNA. The words when stringed together act as the blueprints that tells the
cells of the body when and how to grow, mature and perform various functions. With age the genes may be
affected and may develop faults and damages due to environmental and endogenous toxins.
 Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the foundation of ecosystem services to which human well-being is intimately linked. No feature
of Earth is more complex, dynamic, and varied than the layer of living organisms that occupy its surfaces and
its seas, and no feature is experiencing more dramatic change at the hands of humans than this extraordinary,
singularly unique feature of Earth. This layer of living organismsthe biospherethrough the collective
metabolic activities of its innumerable plants, animals, and microbes physically and chemically unites the
atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere into one environmental system within which millions of species,
including humans, have thrived. Breathable air, potable water, fertile soils, productive lands, bountiful seas, the
equitable climate of Earths recent history, and other ecosystem services (see Box 1.1 and Key Question 2) are
manifestations of the workings of life. It follows that large-scale human influences over this biota have
tremendous impacts on human well-being. It also follows that the nature of these impacts, good or bad, is within
the power of humans to influence (CF2).
There are many measures of biodiversity; species richness (the number of species in a given area) represents a
single but important metric that is valuable as the common currency of the diversity of lifebut it must be
integrated with other metrics to fully capture biodiversity.
Documenting spatial patterns in biodiversity is difficult because taxonomic, functional, trophic, genetic, and
other dimensions of biodiversity have been relatively poorly quantified. Even knowledge of taxonomic
diversity, the best known dimension of biodiversity, is incomplete and strongly biased toward the species level,
megafauna, temperate systems, and components used by people. (See Figure 1.1) This results in significant gaps
in knowledge, especially regarding the status of tropical systems, marine and freshwater biota, plants,
invertebrates, microorganisms, and subterranean biota. For these reasons, estimates of the total number of
species on Earth range from 5 million to 30 million. Irrespective of actual global species richness, however, it is
clear that the 1.72 million species that have been formally identified represent only a small portion of total
species richness. More-complete biotic inventories are badly needed to correct for this deficiency (C4).

Biodiversity plays an important role in ecosystem functions that provide supporting, provisioning, regulating,
and cultural services. These services are essential for human well-being. However, at present there are few
studies that link changes in biodiversity with changes in ecosystem functioning to changes in human well-being.
Protecting the Catskill watersheds that provide drinking water for New York City is one case where
safeguarding ecosystem services paid a dividend of several billion dollars. Further work that demonstrates the
links between biodiversity, regulating and supporting services, and human well-being is needed to show this
vital but often unappreciated value of biodiversity (C4, C7, C11).
Species composition matters as much or more than species richness when it comes to ecosystem services.
Ecosystem functioning, and hence ecosystem services, at any given moment in time is strongly influenced by
the ecological characteristics of the most abundant species, not by the number of species. The relative
importance of a species to ecosystem functioning is determined by its traits and its relative abundance. For
example, the traits of the dominant or most abundant plant speciessuch as how long they live, how big they
are, how fast they assimilate carbon and nutrients, how decomposable their leaves are, or how dense their wood
isare usually the key species drivers of an ecosystems processing of matter and energy. Thus conserving or
restoring the composition of biological communities, rather than simply maximizing species numbers, is critical
to maintaining ecosystem services (C11.2.1, C11.3).
 Biodiversity of Panama
A hotbed of biodiversity, Panama's tropical habitats are home to some of the most diverse and exotic species of
plants and animals on Earth. Covering almost half the country's land surface are immense tracks of rainforests,
mangrove wetlands and mountain cloud forests. Even the country's cosmopolitan capital of Panama City boasts
a forest within its city boundaries -- one of the last tropical dry forests in Central America.
In all, the country houses over 10,444 different types of plant species including 1,200 orchid varieties, 678 fern
species and 1,500 varieties of trees. As well as 255 species of mammals and 972 indigenous bird species,
according to the National Society for the Protection of Nature, Panama. The reason for such ecological
abundance is the country's prime geographical position. Dividing the Pacific Ocean from the Caribbean Sea, the
country serves as a "biological corridor," connecting both North and Central America.
Forming the easternmost part of Panama and boarding Colombia, the almost impenetrable wilderness of the
Darien Region is perhaps most famous as a hiding ground for guerrillas, narcotics traffickers and paramilitary
forces. But despite the negative connotations, Mateo-Vega says this region is "one of the most biodiverse areas
in the entire world."
Due to its remote location and lack of infrastructure, the area has remained a haven for countless species, home
to jaguars, giant anteaters, harpy eagles and American crocodiles as well as sheltering various tribes of remote
indigenous groups.
"But between 2000 and 2008 they were loosing about 13,600 hectares per year. That's cut the rate by around
two thirds, but still there was a considerable net lost of forest of around 451,000 hectares."
And despite attempts to curb deforestation by the government, environmental lobbyists and scientists are
concerned by what they see as weakening environmental legislation.
It's an ongoing battle and not one that will be easily solved.
The region is definitely one of the most inaccessible areas of the country, but there is always talk about opening
it up and constructing a road through it.
"What science and research has clearly indicated is that as soon as you cut a road through any forest it unfolds a
chain of deforestation. Colonizers come in and extractive industries start to come in," he continued.
So far, no attempt as been made and the Panamanian government recently announced plans to keep the Darien
Gap closed.
Illustrations
 Conclusion
In conclusion, genetics play a very large role in the appearance and behavior of all organisms. Genetics are the
reason for the inheritance of certain traits such as the white forelock or the bent pinky. Most genetic traits are
inherited from the person's biological parents, and some people may have a recessive allele present rather than a
dominant one.
The management of biodiversity is a complex matter that needs the involvement of many different partners
ranging from governmental organisations to private companies, NGO's and volunteers.
 Infography
https://www.greenfacts.org/en/biodiversity/l-3/1-define-biodiversity.htm
https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/What-is-Genetics.aspx
http://www.biologyreference.com/Re-Se/Sex-Chromosomes.html
https://www.britannica.com/science/sex-chromosome
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/introduction_to_genetics.htm