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Int J Biol Sci 2013; 9(10):1043-1049. doi:10.7150/ijbs.7203

Research Paper

Genetic Differentiation and Efficient Sex-specific Marker Development of a Pair of Y- and X-linked Markers in Yellow Catfish

Cheng Dan¹, Jie Mei^2,✉, Da Wang¹, Jian-Fang Gui^1,✉

1. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
2. College of Fisheries, Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.

Abstract

Pf62-Y and Pf62-X is a pair of allelic Y chromosome-linked and X chromosome-linked markers, and have been used to identify YY super-males, XY males and XX females for commercial production of all-male populations in yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco). However, the SCAR primers used previously have only two nucleotide difference, which restricts the wide utility because of nucleotide polymorphism. In this study, a continuous 8102 bp Pf62-Y sequence and a 5362 bp Pf62-X sequence have been cloned by genome walking, and significant genetic differentiation has been revealed between the corresponding X and Y chromosome allele sequences. Moreover, three pairs of primers were designed to efficiently identify YY super-males, XY males and XX females in an artificial breeding population, and to distinguish XY males and XX females in various wild populations. Together, the three new sex-specific genetic markers develop a highly stable and efficient method for genetic sex identification and sex control application in sustainable aquaculture of all-male yellow catfish.

Keywords: Yellow catfish, Sex-specific marker, genome walking, YY super-males, All-male fish.