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An ovotestis is a
An ovotestis or hermaphroditic gland (), is found as normal anatomical feature in the reproductive system of some gastropods including such species as the land snail ''
Aleksa Received Gender-Affirming SURGERY!! , Boy Boy Personal Update
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gonad
A gonad, sex gland, or reproductive gland is a Heterocrine gland, mixed gland and sex organ that produces the gametes and sex hormones of an organism. Female reproductive cells are egg cells, and male reproductive cells are sperm. The male gon ...
with both testicular
A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of androgens, primarily testosterone.
The r ...
and ovarian
The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are endoc ...
aspects. In humans, ovotestes are an infrequent anatomical variation associated with gonadal dysgenesis
Gonadal dysgenesis is classified as any congenital developmental disorder of the reproductive system characterized by a progressive loss of primordial germ cells on the developing gonads of an embryo. One type of gonadal dysgenesis is the devel ...
. The only mammals where ovotestes are not characteristic of an infrequent variation are moles, wherein females possess ovotestes along with a masculinized clitoris
In amniotes, the clitoris ( or ; : clitorises or clitorides) is a female sex organ. In humans, it is the vulva's most erogenous zone, erogenous area and generally the primary anatomical source of female Human sexuality, sexual pleasure. Th ...
. These ovotestes in nonpregnant female moles secrete eight times as much testosterone as the ovotestes of pregnant moles. In invertebrates that are normally hermaphroditic
A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic.
The individuals of many ...
, such as most gastropod
Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...
s (snails and slugs) in the clade Eupulmonata
Eupulmonata is a taxonomic clade of air-breathing gastropod molluscs. The great majority of this group are land snails and slugs, but some are intertidal or inhabit coastal saltmarshes and mangroves.
Possible synapomorphy of the group are gl ...
, an ovotestis is a common feature of the reproductive anatomy.
In mice, ovotestes are structured such that the central region is testicular tissue while the poles both contain ovarian tissue. Experiments involving the SOX9
Transcription factor SOX-9 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''SOX9'' gene.
Function
SOX-9 recognizes the sequence CCTTGAG along with other members of the HMG-box class DNA-binding domain, DNA-binding proteins. It is expressed by ...
gene, which is initiated by the SRY
Sex-determining region Y protein (SRY), or testis-determining factor (TDF), is a DNA-binding protein (also known as gene-regulatory protein/transcription factor) encoded by the ''SRY'' gene that is responsible for the initiation of male sex ...
region of the Y chromosome, have shown the gene's requirement for testicular differentiation from the presence of ovotestis formation within XX Sox9 trangenic mice. (6) Ovotestis within B6-XYPOS mice allow for gonadal development research within the same tissue to take place in ways previously unavailable.
In gastropods
An ovotestis or hermaphroditic gland (), is found as normal anatomical feature in the reproductive system of some gastropods including such species as the land snail ''Cornu aspersum
''Cornu aspersum'' (syn. ''Helix aspersa'', ''Cryptomphalus aspersus''), known by the common name garden snail, is a species of land snail in the family Helicidae, which includes some of the most familiar land snails. Of all terrestrial molluscs, ...
''.
People with ovotestis
*Cheryl Chase (activist)
Bo Laurent, better known by her pseudonym Cheryl Chase (born August 14, 1956), is an American intersex activist and the founder of the Intersex Society of North America. She began using the names Bo Laurent and Cheryl Chase simultaneously in the ...
*Anton Krzyzanowski
Anton Krzyzanowski or Anton Kryzhanovsky (, born 3 March 1995) is a Russian intersex activist and sound designer. He is the founder of the intersex human rights initiative group Interseks.ru () and is known for speaking openly about living with o ...
*Aleksa Vulović
Aleksa Vulović (born 29 October 1992) is a Serbian-Australian YouTube personality and online entertainer. Since beginning his public career, his videos have often gained widespread attention in Australian media. This includes his participation i ...
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See also
* ''Cornu aspersum
''Cornu aspersum'' (syn. ''Helix aspersa'', ''Cryptomphalus aspersus''), known by the common name garden snail, is a species of land snail in the family Helicidae, which includes some of the most familiar land snails. Of all terrestrial molluscs, ...
''
* Ovotesticular syndrome
Ovotesticular syndrome (also known as ovotesticular disorder or OT-DSD) is a rare congenital condition where an individual is born with both ovarian and testicular tissue. It is one of the rarest disorders of sex development (DSDs), with only 50 ...
References
{{reflist Mammal reproductive system Intersex variations