Sex Identification of the Japanese Crested Ibis, Nipponia nippon, by Chromodomain Helicase DNA Binding Protein(CHD) Gene Analysis.

Abstract

This paper reports a modification of the chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein (CHD) method for sex identification in the Japanese Crested Ibis, Nipponia nippon. In this modification, we employed a restriction enzyme, MboII, instead of HaeIII that was used in the original method. The use of MboII gave similar results to those found with HaeIII. The reliability of the modified method was confirmed by applying both methods to adult ibises of known sex and also by sequencing amplified nucleotides from adult birds and chicks. We used the modified method to sex three chicks obtained from a pair of Japanese Crested Ibises from China that was presented by the Chinese government. In addition, we have shown that the embryonic tissue, mainly blood vessels, left in the eggshell after hatch can be a good source of DNA for sexing.