Validation of a male-specific DNA marker confirms XX/XY-type sex determination in African catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is a promising food fish species with significant potential and growing mass of production in freshwater aquaculture. Male African catfish possess improved production characteristics over females, therefore the use of monosex populations could be advantageous for aquaculture production. However, our knowledge about the sex determination mechanism of this species is still limited and controversial. A previously isolated male-specific DNA marker (CgaY1) was validated using offspring groups from targeted crosses (n=630) and it was found to predict the sex of 608 individuals correctly (96.43% accuracy). Using the proportion of recombinants, we estimated the average genetic distance between the potential sex determination locus and the sex-specific marker to be 2.69 cM. As an earlier study suggested that both XX/XY and ZZ/ZW systems coexist in this species, we tested the applicability of their putative moderately sex-linked loci and found that no sex-specific amplification could be detected for any of them. In addition, temperature-induced masculinization suggested by others was also tested, but no such effect was detected in our stocks when the published parameters were used for heat treatment. Altogether, our results support an exclusive XX/XY sex determination system in our African catfish stock and indicate a good potential for the future use of this male-specific DNA marker in research and commercial production.