The experimental model for developing the test has been sea-bass (Wikimedia)This test is based on the detection of epigenetic marks. These marks are chemical labels in the DNA that give information about how the genes will be expressed.
The results of the study, led by Francesc Piferrer, a research professor at ICM-CSIC, have been published in the journal Epigenetics. As a result of the study, the CSIC has requested a European patent for the potential practical applications of the method.
The test can be used in aquaculture and conservation biology. In aquaculture production, it allows to determine the proportion of males and females in juveniles, which can help to select best individuals for increasing production. In conservation biology, the method would enable an improved management and preservation of wild populations and threatened species.
It can be used in aquaculture and conservation biology, for improving magament and preservation of wild and threatened species
The experimental model for developing the test has been sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). "Epigenetic marks had already been applied recently in the determination of the sex of a tree, the balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera), but this is the first time it has been applied to an animal," explains Francesc Piferrer. "The method is useful for predicting sex in seabass, as well as in other similar species, but it could be applied to any vertebrate with the appropriate adaptations."
The study, whose first author is Dafni Anastasiadi, a postdoctoral researcher at ICM-CSIC, and which has the participation of Núria Sánchez, doctoral candidate at ICM-CSIC, has been carried out with samples obtained within the framework of the European project AQUAEXCEL, in which, in addition to the CSIC researchers, researchers from IFREMER and INRA have also participated.
Contact:
Juan Pablo Duque
Vicepresidencia de Transferencia
del Conocimiento- CSIC