Zinc‐finger intron 7: a new locus for sex identification of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Abstract We developed a single‐reaction test for identifying the sex of giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) targeted to co‐amplify homologous fragments with size polymorphism that located at zinc‐finger (ZF) intron 7 by using one pair of primers. This assay produced one sex‐specific fragment in females (XX genotypes) whereas two fragments were produced in males (XY genotypes). Indels (insertion/deletion) in intron 7 of Y‐linked allele provide a significant discrimination between ZFX and ZFY, thus the amplification products can be simply distinguished by agarose gel electrophoresis, exhibiting sex‐specific banding patterns (female, 354 bp; male, 354 bp, 135 bp). The new primer set was successfully tested on known‐sex giant pandas by using template DNA extracted from both blood and fecal samples. Cross‐species test was also performed, revealing that this assay could be applied to other Ursidae species. Zoo Biol 29:526–531, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.