title: Accuracy in molecular sexing of martens (Martes americana and Martes caurina) varies among sample types.
abstract: We evaluated the accuracy of sex identification using the SRY marker for American marten (Martes americana) and Pacific marten (Martes caurina) using samples collected from commercial trappers and those obtained via noninvasive sampling. We determined that sex identification from Lut-SRY primers is accurate at >90% for muscle and hair samples collected noninvasively. We found much lower accuracy when using hair samples plucked from trapper-killed carcasses, errors presumably incurred from contamination from the DNA of trappers, who were entirely male. We also found that the sequence generated from Lut-SRY primers, originally developed for Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra), differed slightly for martens, and recommend that new primers be developed from the sequences we provide. The SRY marker can be reliably used for sex identification in both species of marten, provided that samples have low probabilities of contamination. Researchers should avoid samples collected from external locations on trapper-killed carcasses for DNA-based analyses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology & Physiology, University of Wyoming 1000 E. University Ave, Laramie, WY 82071, USA Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming 1000 E. University Ave, Laramie, WY 82071, USA Nucleic Acids Exploration Facility, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA.
authors.forename: Grant M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Jonathan N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Pauli
authors.forename: Joshua G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McClean