Development and Evaluation of Kits for the Determination of Sex in Hatchling Sea Turtles
The sex of turtles is determined by the ambient temperature surrounding the eggs as they are incubated. Eggs subjected to high incubation temperatures result in a higher proportion of female hatchlings, while those at lower incubation temperatures result in a higher proportion male hatchlings. Hatcheries would prefer a method to determine the sex ratios for a natural mixed ratios of males to females. In addition to that, sex ratios are also of conservational, evolutionary and ecological interest.
In vertebrates, both males and female embryos develop mullerian ducts which form oviducts in females. Male vertebrates produce the mullerian inhibiting hormone (MIH) and this hormones stimulates the degeneration of the mullerian ducts. MIH then can be used to determine the sex of turtles.
We propose to clone a full length cDNA for Southeast Asian turtle MIH. The cloned MIH gene should then be inserted in an expression vector system (for eg, bacterial/yeasts) to produce turtle MIH protein. This protein would then be used to identify MIH antisera. The antisera and MIH protein would be used to develop an ELISA assay for turtle MIH. Similarly, polymerase chain reaction can be used to identify the existence of MIH in turtle hatchlings in laboratories.
Principal Investigators at MUST
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