title: Female-specific DNA sequences in ostriches.
abstract: Ostrich absence of heteromorphic sex chromosomes, unique sequences or markers located in the ostrich W-chromosome. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting was carried out to investigate the sex-specific DNA sequence for sexing in ostrich. One hundred and forty random primers were used for random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR). One of these primers, OPAJ-13, produced a sex-specific band only found in tested females, which was isolated and constructed into plasmids for nucleotide sequencing. A 760bp novel female-specific sequence was obtained. Two primers (OstSexOPAJ13-F and -R) were designed according to the cloned female sequence to amplify the female-specific fragment from genomic DNA of ostriches for sexing by PCR. The sex-specific band was represented in females but none were found in the males. This result showed that the sex of ostrich could be easily and effectively identified using the female-specific primers for PCR technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kuo-Kuang Road, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chean-Ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yan-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Horng
authors.forename: Kuo-Tai
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chang-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Mu-Chiou
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis; D020310:Struthioniformes / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers