Sex Determination in Sturgeon

In sturgeon aquaculture, high-priced caviar production requires accurate sexing technology as early as possible. Although early sex determination is generally reported in sturgeon based on cyto-morphological differences during early development of the gonad, as well as sex-specific expression of genes involved in sex determination and differentiation in other vertebrate species, current sexing techniques, such as ultrasound or endoscopy, can only be applied after months, or even years, of ongrowing in maturing sub-adults. Thus, gynogenetic techniques have a high potential for the production of all-female stocks, but such strategies are not explored in commercial farming, due to the late maturity of most sturgeon species. In the future, novel sequencing techniques and whole genome projects will not just increase knowledge on the sex determination and early differentiation in sturgeon but, upon identification of a sex-specific marker(s), will support the technological development of improved sexing methods and sex control strategies in sturgeon aquaculture.