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Isolation of sex-specific AFLP markers in Spotted Halibut (Verasper variegatus)

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Abstract

Spotted Halibut (Verasper variegatus) is a commercially important marine fish species. In the present study, to isolate sex-specific markers in Spotted Halibut, we screened the genomes of Spotted Halibut by AFLP technique with 64 different primer combinations. Two primer combinations, MseI-CAG/EcoRI-ACC and MseI-CAT/EcoRI-AGG, produced a female-specific fragment in all females (n = 88) and in no males (n = 60, except 3 individuals), respectively. Both fragments were excised from the gel, cloned and characterized. The first fragment (named VevaF533) was 533 bp long, while the length of the second one (named VevaF218) was 218 bp. The two sequences showed no similarity to each other, and to the known sequences existing in the GenBank database using BLASTn. Cross-species amplification showed that the marker VevaF218 is a species-specific marker which is present in Spotted Halibut females but absent in Barfin Flounder (Verasper moseri). So this marker could be used for discriminating unambiguously between Spotted Halibut females and Barfin Flounder. Examination of the patterns of inheritance of VevaF218 in an interspecific hybrid family (V. variegatus ♂×V. moseri ♀) showed a female-specific pattern of inheritance from mother to daughter, implying that the marker VevaF218 is located on the female sex chromosome. This study provides a reliable AFLP-based genetic sexing of Spotted Halibut that could be useful for genetic mapping of the sex chromosomes and identification of sex-linked genes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from State High-Technology R&D Project of China (863) (2006AA10A403), Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Province, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Lab for Sustainable Utilization of Marine Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Hongyu Ma, Songlin Chen, Jingfeng Yang, Xiangshan Ji, Siqing Chen, Yongsheng Tian & Jinzhen Bi

  2. Key Lab of Marine and Estuarine Fisheries Resources and Ecology, Ministry of Agriculture, East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai, 200090, China

    Hongyu Ma

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  1. Hongyu Ma
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  2. Songlin Chen
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  3. Jingfeng Yang
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  4. Xiangshan Ji
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  5. Siqing Chen
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  6. Yongsheng Tian
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  7. Jinzhen Bi
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Correspondence to Songlin Chen.

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Ma, H., Chen, S., Yang, J. et al. Isolation of sex-specific AFLP markers in Spotted Halibut (Verasper variegatus). Environ Biol Fish 88, 9–14 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-010-9615-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-010-9615-z

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