Meeting Abstract

P3.79  Tuesday, Jan. 6  Candidate genes in a turtle with temperature-dependent sex determination CHOJNOWSKI, JL*; BRAUN, EL; Univ. of Florida kixs4@ufl.edu

Some turtles determine if the developing gonad will ultimately become an ovary or a testis by their incubation temperature during specific stages during embryological development, ultimately called temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). The red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) produces males at low temperatures, females at high temperatures, and a mixture at intermediate temperatures but the molecular pathway that underlies gonad development through temperature is only recently being studied. Candidate genes determined from a macroarray of the red-eared slider were characterized for different temperatures and stages during gonad development.