Re: [Killietalk] Research projects

["Ken" <ken_combs at sbcglobal.net>]

Bill,
Plz tell us more about the hormones...
I can't list all the killifish species that have fretted away from skewed
sex ratio's...swords aren't much better: I lost X.signum from all females
and looks like my X.xiphidum are going all male

Ken (Bills original msg hacked for context)


>My feeble attempt at influencing the sex of swordtails before they were
born with methyl
testosterone was enough to get me into the semifinals of the Westinghouse
(now Intel) Science Talent Search and paid for a substantial portion of
four years of college.  Years later some very similar research succeeded in
producing 100% males that were fertile and led to the rewriting of the
genetics of sex determination especially swordtails and platies.

>The idea for killifish is similar to the one already mentioned.  But trying
to influence sex through pH, temperature or another environmental factor
will probably involve too much time and work.  

> Using methyl testosterone, try to induce sex reversal in female killifish
that had previously produced eggs.  You can be sure that you will get some
visible effects but the real test is breeding the treated females back to
untreated females and looking for fertile eggs.  You can extend it to
investigating the sex ratio of any fry you get.

Bill Martin




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