Meeting Abstract
The Florida Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus)is quite possibly the most endangered species of bird in North America, with fewer than 200 individuals in the wild. The sexing of individuals in captive breeding programs is vital for the conservation of this federally endangered species. Because grasshopper sparrows are not sexually dimorphic, we tested a PCR-based method to sex individuals. DNA samples were used from blood extracts of 26 individuals (many of known sex). Primers 2917F-3088R (Ellegren 1996), P2-P3 (Griffiths et al. 1996), 2550F-2718R (Fridolfsson and Ellegren 1999), and 1237L-1272H (Kahn et al. 1998) were tested for their ability to distinguish between sexes. Upon undergoing several rounds PCR and examination of electrophoresis gels we found that the primers used sexed the birds correctly. Agarose gel electrophoresis was used to display a single band for males, and two bands for females. Primers used in this study were previously found to correctly differentiate the sex across several different bird species of different families. This tool can be used as a rapid and cost-effective way of identifying the sex of individuals used in captive breeding programs.
