Establishment of a strain inheriting a sex-linked SNP marker in Patagonian pejerrey (Odontesthes hatcheri), a species with both genotypic and temperature-dependent sex determination.

The Patagonian pejerrey Odontesthes hatcheri is an atherinopsid species presenting genotypic sex determination (GSD) at intermediate temperatures and temperature-dependent sex determination at the low and high ranges of thermal tolerance. A recent study revealed the presence of a sex-linked SNP marker in some males of this species, but a strain which inherits the marker faithfully has not been established. This research was conducted to develop such a strain, for use as a tool to study the molecular mechanisms of gonadal sex differentiation and sexual dimorphism, and to obtain basic information on the GSD mode in this species. For these purposes, we performed backcrosses and full-sibling crosses using males and females whose presumptive genotypic sex was inferred from the presence of the sex-linked SNP marker. Four backcrosses between SNP(-) daughters and their SNP(+) father generated balanced sex ratios with the phenotypic sex matching the genotypic sex in most cases (98.21%) at an intermediate, sexually neutral temperature (21 degrees C). Full-sibling crosses between these four SNP(-) females and their SNP(+) brothers produced three progenies with balanced sex ratios and one with 94.4% males. The results of this study confirm that a strain inheriting the sex-linked SNP marker was successfully developed. Moreover, the inheritance pattern of the marker and the sex ratios of the progenies provide strong evidence that the GSD mode in O. hatcheri is the XX-XY system.