Larkina TA, Dementieva NV.

Animal Husbandry and Fodder Production. 2025. Vol. 108. No. 4. Р. 119-135.

doi:10.33284/2658-3135-108-4-119

Review article

A review of genes associated with sexual differentiation in chickens 

Tatyana A Larkina1, Natalia V Dementieva 2

1.2Russian Research Institute of Farm Animal Genetics and Breeding – Branch of the LK Ernst Federal Science Center for Animal Husbandry, Tyarlevo, Russia

1tanya.larkina2015@yandex.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4574-4639

2dementevan@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0210-9344

Abstract. Currently, the poultry industry is looking for effective methods of changing the sex of chickens for various purposes. In particular, in the egg sector, only laying hens are needed, and roosters are usually culled, which violates the principles of ethical treatment of animals and also leads to economic losses in profitability in the industry. Producers are obliged to use technologies for determining the sex of the bird before its birth. Thus, determining the sex of the embryo in the egg before incubation is a pressing issue. Understanding the genetic basis for sex determination in chickens will help in the development of technologies and methods aimed at increasing profitability in poultry farming. This review of domestic and foreign studies provides a brief description of key genes of sex chromosomes (DMRT1, HINTW, сHEMGN) and autosomes (SOX9, TLE4Z, AMH, SERPINB11, DDX4, CYP19A1, FOXL2) that are associated with sex differentiation in the early stages of chicken embryo development. The identified genes or mutations in them can be used by researchers in genome editing technology. In addition, the proteins encoded by these genes play an important role in sexual differentiation, and the development of antagonists or agonists can provide an additional level of control. Such genetic and pharmacological strategies have significant potential in the poultry industry in terms of optimizing poultry production by controlling the sex ratio.

Keywords: chicken, gene, sexual differentiation, embryo

Acknowledgments: the work was performed in accordance to the plan of research works for 2025 of the RRIFAGB (№ 124020200114-7).

For citation: Larkina TA. Dementieva NV. A review of genes associated with sexual differentiation in chickens (review). Animal Husbandry and Fodder Production. 2025;108(4):119-135. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.33284/2658-3135-108-4-119

 

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Information about the authors:

Tatyana A Larkina, Cand. Sci. (Biology), Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Private Genetics and Genomics of Poultry, Russian Research Institute of Farm Animal Genetics and Breeding – Branch of the L.K. Ernst Federal Science Center for Animal Husbandry, 55a, Moscow highway, St. Petersburg, Pushkin, 196601, Russia, tel.: +7 (904) 6050882.

Natalia V Dementieva, Cand. Sci. (Biology), Leading Researcher at the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Russian Research Institute of Farm Animal Genetics and Breeding — Branch of the L.K. Ernst Federal Research Center for Animal Husbandry, 196601, St. Petersburg, Tyarlevo, Moscow highway, 55a. tel.: +7 (921) 7430743.

The article was submitted 08.07.2025; approved after reviewing 23.09.2025; accepted for publication 15.12.2025.

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