PCR based sex differentiation in guinea fowl using W chromosome specific sequences

Abstract

In view of poor sexual bimorphism in guinea fowl, an attempt was made to develop PCR based method for sex differentiation using W chromosome specific sequence. A 370 bp sex specific fragment was amplified in female birds of guinea fowl, chicken, quail and turkey using the EE0.6 specific set of primers i.e. USP1 and USP3, while no amplification was observed in male birds. The 16S rRNA gene specific primers were used to amplify a ~590 bp fragment in both the sexes, which acted as control. A multiplex PCR assay was developed by using sex specific primers and universal 16S rRNA primers for sex differentiation in guinea fowl and other galliformes species. In all the species including guinea fowl, female showed 2 bands i.e. 370 bp female specific and 590 bp common band, while males showed only 590 bp band. These results showed the effectiveness of sex specific primers in sex differentiation in guinea fowl as well as other galliformes species.