One of the two X chromosomes present in female mice cells is silenced in early mammalian development as a result of X chromosome inactivation. The choice of which chromosome is inactivated is essentially random but can be biased by the alleles at the X-linked X controlling element also known as Xce.The silencing of the X chromosome in mammals serves to equalize the X-linked gene expression between the sexes. In early female development, each of the somatic cells inactivates on of its two X chromosomes. The choice of which X chromosome is inactivated is then transmitted to all daughter cells through mitosis, such that the adult female is a mosaic of two different cell lineages.
The following report which can be accessed via the link below looks into defining the minimal Xce candidate interval by using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping strategies. Subsequent analysis of recombinant chromosomes allowed for the maximum candidate region for the Xce locus to be established. In addition QTL approaches were used in an effort to identify additional modifiers of the X chromosome.
