The X0 sex-determination system is a system that determines the sex of offspring among grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, and some other insects. In this system, there is only one sex chromosome, referred to as X. Males only have one X chromosome (X0), while females have two (XX). The zero (sometimes, the letter O) signifies the lack of a second X. Maternal gametes always contain an X chromosome, so the sex of the animals' offspring depends on whether a sex chromosome happens to be present in the male gamete. Its sperm normally contain either one X chromosome or no sex chromosomes at all.
In a variant of this system, most individuals have two sex chromosomes (XX) and are hermaphroditic, producing both eggs and sperm with which they can fertilize themselves, while rare individuals are male and have only one sex chromosome (X0). The model organismCaenorhabditis elegans—a nematode frequently used in biological research—is one such organism.
In many species, sex determination is genetic: males and females have different alleles or even different genes that specify their sexual morphology. In animals this is often accompanied by chromosomal differences, generally through combinations of XY, ZW, XO, ZO chromosomes, or haplodiploidy. The sexual differentiation is generally triggered by a main gene (a "sex locus"), with a multitude of other genes following in a domino effect.
In other cases, sex is determined by environmental variables (such as temperature) or social variables (e.g. the size of an organism relative to other members of its population). Environmental sex determination preceded the genetically determined systems of birds and mammals; it is thought that a temperature-dependent amniote was the common ancestor of amniotes with sex chromosomes.