Presence of gynogenetic males suggests a female heterogamety in sterlet Acipenser ruthenus L

Dorota Fopp-Bayat; Piotr Hliwa; Konrad Ocalewicz

doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2017.12.014

Presence of gynogenetic males suggests a female heterogamety in sterlet Acipenser ruthenus L

Anim Reprod Sci. 2018 Feb:189:110-118. doi: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2017.12.014. Epub 2017 Dec 26.

Authors

Dorota Fopp-Bayat¹, Piotr Hliwa², Konrad Ocalewicz³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ichthyology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland. Electronic address: foppik@uwm.edu.pl.
² Department of Ichthyology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland.
³ Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdansk, Poland.

PMID: 29290457
DOI: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2017.12.014

Abstract

Investigation of the heterogametic sex in sterlet Acipenser ruthenus L. was performed using meiotic gynogenesis and gonadal histology. Eggs from the albino females were activated by UV irradiated sperm of wild colored males and exposed to a heat shock. The resultant fish were all albino and exhibited exclusively maternal inheritance of the microsatellite DNA markers. Cytogenetic analysis indicated that gynogenetic progeny were diploids with 120 chromosomes. Based on the histological analysis, more than 86% of the gynogenetic individuals were found to be females. Moreover, some males (7%), sterile speciemens (3.5%) and fish with unidentified gonads (3.5%) were observed among the gynogenetic fish. Presence of both females and males in the gynogenetic offspring is indicative that the heterogametic sex in sterlets is female.

Keywords: Gonad investigation; Gynogenesis; Microsatellite DNA; Sex heterogamety; Sturgeon.

MeSH terms

Animals
Female
Fishes / genetics*
Male
Ploidies*
Sex Determination Processes / genetics*
Sex Determination Processes / physiology