Scientists solve chicken puzzle

University researchers have discovered why some chickens are male on one side of the body and female on the other.

The research, which involved studying rare naturally occurring chickens with white (male) plumage on one side and brown (female) plumage on the other, sheds new light on the sexual development of birds.

It was previously thought that sex chromosomes in birds control whether a testis or ovary forms, with sexual traits then being determined by hormones.

However, the researchers identified differences between male and female cells that control the development of sexual traits.

The scientists have named the phenomenon cell autonomous sex identity (CASI).

Poultry potential

The findings, which are scientifically revolutionary in the field, may also be relevant to why males and females differ in behaviour and in susceptibility to disease.

They could also lead to improvements in poultry production, as identification of some of the molecular differences between male and female cells should lead to better tests for sexing embryos prior to hatch.

It might even be possible to devise ways of obtaining the growth characteristics of male birds in females, with improvements in feed efficiency and productivity that could contribute to future food security.

This research has completely overturned what we previously thought about how sexual characteristics were determined in birds. Our study opens a new avenue for our understanding of birds’ sexual development.

Nature report

The study from The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, which receives key funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, is published in the journal Nature.

The group will now study the molecular mechanisms underlying the differences between male and female cells with a £800,000 grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the UK’s leading biosciences agency.