Abstract
The Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos canadensis) is an endangered species in Mexico, and the captive breeding is relevant to its conservation. Monomorphic raptor species, such as Golden eagle, are difficult for sex determination based only on morphometric measures and plumage characteristics, and a reliable method to determine the sex of birds is important for conservation strategies. With the purpose of forming new captive breeding couples, the sex of 10 adult Golden eagles was identified using DNA analysis such as CHD gene amplification (P8, P2 primers), and by CHD amplification by ARMS technique. In addition bioinformatic, and PCA statistical analysis of morphometric characteristics were conducted. We confirmed that the P2-P8 pair of primers inside the CHD gene was not a good option for Golden eagles because fragments derived from sex specific alleles CHD-W and CHD-Z differed just in 6 bp, which are not enough to be distinguished in agarose gel electrophoresis. In contrast, sex identification in Golden eagles with ARMS technique was fast, reliable and useful, obtaining a difference of more than 60 bp between CHD-W and CHD-Z that allows discriminating directly the alleles in a simple agarose gel. The PCA analysis of morphometric characteristics indicated three significant morphological patterns that differentiated males from females.
Highlights
The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is a member of the family Accipitridae and is widely distributed in open and mountain habitats of the Northern Hemisphere [1]
The results of the sex identification using final point PCR and ARMS techniques are shown in Figure 1 Regular PCR with P2- P8 primers was not successful for Golden eagles, because both sexes showed a single band in 5% agarose gel
Differences in size between DNA fragments derived from Chromobox-Helicase-DNA binding protein (CHD)-W and CHD-Z from P2P8 primers resulted in 6 bp. (Gene Bank ID 1641605)
Summary
The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is a member of the family Accipitridae and is widely distributed in open and mountain habitats of the Northern Hemisphere [1]. Canadensis) have declined due to habitat loss, electrocution, poisoning, illegal traffic and hunting, and at present is a conservation concern [2]. Many monomorphic raptor species such as Golden eagle are difficult for sex determination based only on morphometric measures and plumage characteristics [3,4]. Females tend to be larger than males, but size differences are not always reliable for sex determination [5]. These characteristics have not traditionally been collected on Golden Eagles, and extracting information on population or fledgling sex ratios from extant data sets is difficult. Weight and footpad length are anatomically “soft” and are subject to greater potential variability in measurement [6]
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