{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,24]],"date-time":"2026-01-24T12:05:46Z","timestamp":1769256346725,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,7]],"date-time":"2025-11-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762473600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["32170419"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32170419"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["32270448"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32270448"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Genes"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Quasipaa spinosa, a large-sized spiny frog, has high commercial value in the food trade. Although the sexual dimorphism in body size between males and females has been investigated, the sex-determining mechanism in this frog remains unknown. Methods: This study employed a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) method to identify sex-associated genomic markers and elucidate the sex determination mechanism in the species. Results: We obtained 853 candidate sex-specific GBS tags, with 811 tags (95.07%) demonstrating a male heterozygous system (XX\/XY). The diagnostic specificity of the nine markers was further demonstrated by PCR analysis across multiple adult individuals from seven distinct geographic populations of the frog. Four sex-specific markers were aligned with the DMRT1 gene, representing a master regulator of sex determination and gonadal differentiation across the animal kingdom. Conclusions: Our results deciphered the genetic mechanisms governing sex determination in Q. spinosa and presented effective strategies for mono-sex breeding.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/genes16111347","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,10]],"date-time":"2025-11-10T08:57:55Z","timestamp":1762765075000},"page":"1347","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Identification of Male-Specific Markers by Genotyping-by-Sequencing in the Giant Spiny Frog, Quasipaa spinosa"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Yu","family":"Xiao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610213, China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3039-0527","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yun","family":"Xia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610213, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaomao","family":"Zeng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610213, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Beukeboom, L.W., and Perrin, N. 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