title: First evidence of higher female recombination in a species with temperature-dependent sex determination: the saltwater crocodile.
abstract: The first evidence of genetic linkage and sex-specific recombination in the order Crocodylia is reported. This study was conducted using a resource pedigree of saltwater crocodiles consisting of 16 known-breeding pairs (32 adults) and 101 juveniles. A total of 21 microsatellite loci were available for analysis. Ten of the 21 loci showed linkage with 4 linkage groups: 3 pairwise (Cj131/Cj127, CUD68/Cj101, and Cj107/Cp10) and 1 four-locus (Cj122, CUD78, Cj16, and Cj104) being found. Linkage analysis on the 21 loci revealed evidence of sex-specific differences in recombination rates. All 5 nonzero interlocus intervals were longer in females than in males, with the 4-loci linkage group 3-fold longer in females than in males (41.63 cM and 14.1 cM, respectively). This is the first report of sex-specific recombination rates in a species that exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Advanced Technologies in Animal Genetics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Sally Robyn
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Isberg
authors.forename: Scott Maxwell
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Yizhou
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moran
mesh_terms: D000489:Alligators and Crocodiles / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D019849:Sex Determination Processes; D013045:Species Specificity; D013696:Temperature