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Lack of Sex Specificity for Growth Hormone Pseudogene in Fall‐Run Chinook Salmon from the Columbia River
Author(s) -
Chowen Trevor R.,
Nagler James J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/t03-224.1
Subject(s) - chinook wind , oncorhynchus , biology , hatchery , population , otolith , zoology , sex ratio , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , sociology
Two qualitative male‐specific genetic markers are currently known for Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and have been used to identify sex in this species. Here we compare the relative specificity of these markers—growth hormone pseudogene ( GHp ) and OtY1 —with phenotypic sex in fall‐run Chinook salmon from three different naturally spawning populations and one hatchery population on the Columbia River, Washington. In comparison with OtY1, GHp demonstrated a reduced specificity for the male sex in all populations examined and overall was present in just 81% of males sampled. Conversely, some females from all but the Yakima River population tested positive for the GHp marker. Therefore, GHp is determined to be a relatively poor indicator of phenotypic sex for fall‐run Chinook salmon from the Columbia River due primarily to underrepresentation among males and also to some overrepresentation among females. The potential for GHp to be an accurate genetic marker for phenotypic sex in Chinook salmon appears to be a population‐specific phenomenon.