XY system

English

Drosophila sex-chromosomes

Proper noun

XY system

1. (biology) The system that determines the sex of humans, most other mammals, some insects (Drosophila), and some plants (Ginkgo), in which females have two of the same kind of sex cell (XX) and males have two distinct sex cells (XY).

Alternative forms

• XX-XY system

See also

• ZW system
• X0 system

Further reading

• XY sex-determination system on Wikipedia.Wikipedia