Molecular techniques for sex identification of captive birds

Vet World Vol.12 September-2019 Article-23

Research Article

Veterinary World, 12(9): 1506-1513

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2019.1506-1513

Medania Purwaningrum¹, Herjuno Ari Nugroho², Machmud Asvan³, Karyanti Karyanti³, Bertha Alviyanto³, Randy Kusuma³, and Aris Haryanto¹

1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia.
2. Research Centre for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jl Jakarta-Bogor Km. 46, Cibinong, West Java 16911, Indonesia.
3. Gembira Loka Zoo and Botanical Garden, Yogyakarta 55171, Indonesia.

Background and Aim: Many avian species are considered sexually monomorphic. In monomorphic bird species, especially in young birds, sex is difficult to identify based on an analysis of their external morphology. Accurate sex identification is essential for avian captive breeding and evolutionary studies. Methods with varying degrees of invasiveness such as vent sexing, laparoscopic surgery, steroid sexing, and chromosome inspection (karyotyping) are used for sex identification in monomorphic birds. This study aimed to assess the utility of a non-invasive molecular marker for gender identification in a variety of captive monomorphic birds, as a strategy for conservation.

Materials and Methods: DNA was isolated from feather samples from 52 individuals representing 16 species of 11 families indigenous to both Indonesia and elsewhere. We amplified the chromodomain helicase DNA-binding (CHD) gene using polymerase chain reaction with MP, NP, and PF primers to amplify introns with lengths that differ between the CHD-W and the CHD-Z genes, allowing sex discrimination because the W chromosome is exclusively present in females.

Results: Molecular bird sexing confirmed 33 females and 19 males with 100% accuracy. We used sequencing followed by alignment on one protected bird species (Probosciger aterrimus).

Conclusion: Sex identification may be accomplished noninvasively in birds, because males only have Z sex chromosomes, whereas females have both Z and W chromosomes. Consequently, the presence of a W-unique DNA sequence identifies an individual as female. Sexing of birds is vital for scientific research, and to increase the success rate of conservation breeding programs. Keywords: bird, chromodomain helicase DNA-binding gene, molecular bird sexing, polymerase chain reaction, sexing.

Keywords: bird, chromodomain helicase DNA-binding gene, molecular bird sexing, polymerase chain reaction, sexing.

How to cite this article: Purwaningrum M, Nugroho HA, Asvan M, Karyanti K, Alviyanto B, Kusuma R, Haryanto A (2019) Molecular techniques for sex identification of captive birds, Veterinary World, 12(9): 1506-1513.

Received: 24-04-2019 Accepted: 26-08-2019 Published online: 30-09-2019

Corresponding author: Aris Haryanto E-mail: arisharyanto@ugm.ac.id

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.1506-1513

Copyright: Purwaningrum, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.