Self-biting disease occurred in most farmed fur animals in the world. The mechanism and rapid detection method of this disease has not been reported. We applied bulked sergeant analysis (BSA) in combination with RAPD method to analyze a molecular genetic marker linked with self-biting trait in mink group. The molecular marker was converted into sequence-characterized amplified regions (SCAR) marker for rapid detection of this disease. A single RAPD marker A8 amplified a specific band of 263bp in self-biting minks, which was designated as SRA8-250, and non-specific band of 315bp in both self-biting and healthy minks. The sequences of the bands exhibited 75% and 88% similarity to Canis familiarizes major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II region and Macaca mulatta MHC class I region, respectively. A SCAR marker SCAR-A8 was designed for the specific fragment SRA8-250 and validated in 30 self-biting minks and 30 healthy minks. Positive amplification of SCAR-A8 was detected in 24 self-biting minks and 12 healthy minks. χ2 test showed significant difference (p<0.01) in the detection rate between the two groups. This indicated that SRA8-250 can be used as a positive marker to detect self-biting disease in minks. Furthermore, the finding that self-biting disease links with MHC genes has significant implications for the mechanism of the disease.
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