Identification and characterization of sex-associated loci in sockeye salmon using genotyping-by-sequencing and comparison with a sex-determining assay based on the sdY gene

Loci that can be used to screen for sex in salmon can provide important information for study of both wild and cultured populations. Here, we tested for associations between sex and genotypes at thousands of loci available from a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) dataset to discover sex-associated loci in sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). We discovered seven sex-associated loci, developed high-throughput assays for two loci, and tested the utility of these two assays in eight collections of sockeye salmon sampled throughout North America. We also screened an existing assay based on the master sex-determining gene in salmon (sdY) in these collections. The ability of GBS-derived loci to assign fish to their phenotypic sex varied substantially among collections suggesting that recombination between the loci that we discovered and the sex-determining gene has occurred. Assignment accuracy to phenotypic sex was much higher with the sdY assay but was still less than 100%. Alignment of s...