A non-invasive, fast, and reliable method for sex identification of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) was developed by genotyping five SNPs located at the sex chromosome amelogenin (AMEL) paralogs. The giant panda’s sex can be accurately distinguished by the homozygous or heterozygous SNP genotypes. Mass spectrometry assay and Sanger sequencing both successfully genotyped tissue and fresh fecal samples collected from known-sex giant pandas. Additionally, we simulated the conditions of wild fecal samples, which were naturally degraded for up to two weeks, and successfully genotyped these samples by mass spectrometry assay in parallel. These results suggest that this is a powerful method for sex determination in highly degraded and lower concentrated DNA samples.

通过对位于性染色体釉原蛋白 ( AMEL ) 旁系同源的 5 个 SNP 进行基因分型，开发了一种非侵入性、快速且可靠的大熊猫 ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) 性别鉴定方法。通过纯合或杂合的SNP基因型可以准确区分大熊猫的性别。质谱分析和桑格测序均成功对从已知性别的大熊猫身上采集的组织和新鲜粪便样本进行了基因分型。此外，我们模拟了野生粪便样本的条件，这些样本自然降解长达两周，并通过并行质谱分析成功地对这些样本进行了基因分型。这些结果表明，这是一种在高度降解和浓度较低的 DNA 样本中进行性别测定的强大方法。