Dor, L., Institute of Animal Science, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
Shirak, A., Institute of Animal Science, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel
Rosenfeld, H., National Center for Mariculture, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Eilat, Israel
Ashkenazi, I.M., National Center for Mariculture, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Eilat, Israel
Band, M.R., The Carver Biotechnology Center, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, United States
Korol, A., Faculty of Science, Institute of Evolution, University Haifa, Haifa, Israel
Ronin, Y., Faculty of Science, Institute of Evolution, University Haifa, Haifa, Israel
Seroussi, E., Institute of Animal Science, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel
Weller, J.I., Institute of Animal Science, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel
Ron, M., Institute of Animal Science, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel

Elucidation of the sex-determination mechanism in flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) is required to exploit its economic potential by production of genetically determined monosex populations and application of hormonal treatment to parents rather than to the marketed progeny. Our objective was to construct a first-generation linkage map of the M. cephalus in order to identify the sex-determining region and sex-determination system. Deep-sequencing data of a single male was assembled and aligned to the genome of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). A total 245 M. cephalus microsatellite markers were designed, spanning the syntenic tilapia genome assembly at intervals of 10 Mb. In the mapping family of full-sib progeny, 156 segregating markers were used to construct a first-generation linkage map of 24 linkage groups (LGs), corresponding to the number of chromosomes. The linkage map spanned approximately 1200 cM with an average inter-marker distance of 10.6 cM. Markers segregating on LG9 in two independent mapping families showed nearly complete concordance with gender (R2 = 0.95). The sex determining locus was fine mapped within an interval of 8.6 cM on LG9. The sex of offspring was determined only by the alleles transmitted from the father, thus indicating an XY sex-determination system. © 2016 Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics