Abstract
The knowledge of the sex ratio of threatened populations or species is pivotal since sub-optimal sex ratios can affect negatively the population growth and resilience. The vulnerable species, Tapirus terrestris, is rarely studied through traditional field methods and non-invasive genetic analyses have been employed using feces as source of DNA. Here, we evaluated two molecular markers for sex identification of tapirs. Amelogenin gene (AMEL) which is shorter in the Y chromosome (−20pb), failed in the determination of the sex of tapirs, even after the design of specific primers for the species. SRY marker, co-amplified with zinc-finger gene (ZF), had successful produced the sex identity for blood and scat samples. From a total of 45 feaces, 29 had the sex identified after three PCRS (64.4 %). In this way, these molecular markers are reliable tools for sex ratio determination using non-invasive samples of natural populations of this tapirs.
References
Aasen E, Medrano JF (1990) Amplification of the ZFY and ZFX genes for sex identification in humans, cattle, sheep and goats. Nature. Biotech 8:1279–1281
Cullen L, Bodmer RE, Pádua CV (2000) Effects of hunting in habitat fragments of the Atlantic forests, Brazil. Biol Conserv 95:49–56
Ennis S, Gallagher TF (1994) A PCR-based sex-determination assay in cattle based on the bovine amelogenin locus. Animal Genet 25:425–427
Fernando PJ, Melnick DJ (2001) Molecular sexing eutherian mammals. Mol Ecol Notes 1:350–353
Gilson A, Syvanen M, Levine D, Banks J. 1998. Deer gender determination by polymerase chain reaction: validation study and application to tissues, bloodstains and hair forensic samples from California. Calif Fish Game 84:159–169
Koressaar T, Remm M (2007) Enhancements and modifications of primer design program Primer3. Bioinformatics 23:1289–1291
Lahiri DK, Nurnberger JI (1991) A rapid non-enzymatic method for the preparation of HMW DNA from blood for RFLP studies. Nucleic Acids Res 19:5444
Pagès M, Maudet C, Bellemain E, Taberlet P, Hughes S, Hanni C. 2009. A system for sex determination from degraded DNA: a useful tool for palaeogenetics and conservation genetics of ursids. Conserv Gen 10:897–907
Peppin L, McEwing R, Ogden R, Hermes R., Harper C, Guthrie A, Carvalho GR (2010) Molecular sexing of African rhinoceros. Conserv Gen Resour 11:1181–1184
Pinho GM, Silva AG, Hrbek T, Venticinque EM, Farias IP (2014) Kinship and social behavior of lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in a Central Amazon Landscape. PLoS One 9(3):e92507. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092507
Sanches A, Perez WAM, Figueiredo MG, Rossini BC, Cervini M, Galetti Jr PM, Galetti M. 2011. Wildlife forensic DNA and lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris). Conserv Gen Resour 3:189–193
Untergasser A, Cutcutache I, Koressaar T, Ye J, Faircloth BC, Remm M, Rozen SG (2012) Primer3 - new capabilities and interfaces. Nucleic Acids Res 40:e115
Wayne RK, Morin PA (2004) Conservation genetics in the new molecular age. Front Ecol Environ 2:89–97
Yamauchi K, Hamasaki S, Miyazaki K, Kikusui T, Takeuchi Y, Mori Y (2000) Sex determination based on fecal DNA analysis of the amelogenin gene in sika deer (Cervus nippon). J Vet Med Sci 62:669–671
Acknowledgments
The authors are very grateful to FAPESP (2007/04073-1 and 2013/19377-7), FUNDUNESP and Idea Wild and PMGJ thanks CNPq (308385/2014-4).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pelizzon, C., da Silva Carvalho, C., Caballero, S. et al. Sex identification of the extant mega mammal, the lowland tapir, Tapirus terrestris (Tapiridae, Mammalia), by means of molecular markers: new outlook for non-invasive samples. Conservation Genet Resour 9, 17–19 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-016-0607-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-016-0607-y