Testing beluga molecular sex determination by amplification of female specific genomic region

In sturgeon aquaculture, sex determination is a major challenge since culture of female sturgeon, as a valuable source of caviar production, is economically important and the differentiation of male and female sturgeons is indeed necessary to reduce costs. Indirect evidence shows that the sex determination system in sturgeon is ZW and the sex of the female determines the sex. The situation which underlies locus discovery involved in sturgeon sex determination in genomic studies. The current study, for the first time in Iran, aimed to determine the beluga sex using the above-mentioned locus specific primers. For this purpose, caudal fins samples were collected from 23 beluga broodstock (14 females and 9 males). Genomic DNA was extracted by the ammonium acetate method. After quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the extracted DNA, specific primers were used to amplify a small fragment of the female beluga locus. Based on the obtained results, the single fragment slightly larger than 100 bp in size was amplified in 14 females while no specific amplification was observed in the male. Therefore, the molecular test can be used as a reliable, efficient, relatively low-cost, and non-invasive method for early sex determination in beluga in Iran.