title: Zinc-finger intron 7: a new locus for sex identification of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).
abstract: We developed a single-reaction test for identifying the sex of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) targeted to co-amplify homologous fragments with size polymorphism that located at zinc-finger (ZF) intron 7 by using one pair of primers. This assay produced one sex-specific fragment in females (XX genotypes) whereas two fragments were produced in males (XY genotypes). Indels (insertion/deletion) in intron 7 of Y-linked allele provide a significant discrimination between ZFX and ZFY, thus the amplification products can be simply distinguished by agarose gel electrophoresis, exhibiting sex-specific banding patterns (female, 354 bp; male, 354 bp, 135 bp). The new primer set was successfully tested on known-sex giant pandas by using template DNA extracted from both blood and fecal samples. Cross-species test was also performed, revealing that this assay could be applied to other Ursidae species.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yuzhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaofang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Wenping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhihe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fujun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Bisong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000097:blood; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D056727:Endangered Species; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D001503:Ursidae / Q000235:genetics*; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004247:DNA