Genomics Inform.  2010 Jun;8(2):81-85.

Development of Optimal Breeding Pigs Using DNA Marker Information

• Kim SW
• Roh JG
• Cho YI
• Choi BH
• Kim TH
• Kim JJ
• Kim KS

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate pig reference families, generated from Korean native pigs (KNP) that were crossed with Yorkshire (YS) breeds, which were used to evaluate genetic markers to select breeding animals with superior pork quality. A set of five candidate genes (PRKAG3, MC4R, CAST, ESR, and PRLR) was analyzed for association with pork quality traits. PRKAG3 (I199V) SNP genotypes were significantly associated with muscle moisture, protein, and fat contents. The MC4R D298N polymorphism was significantly associated with meat tenderness and color traits. The CAST polymorphism was significantly associated with muscle moisture and crude protein traits. These three genes have been associated with pork quality traits in other pig populations, and some of our results are consistent with earlier studies. In addition, two reproductive candidate genes (ESR and PRLR) did not have significant associations. These results suggest that further study is warranted to investigate and develop more DNA markers associated with pork quality in our KNP-crossed pig families.

Keyword

major gene; single nucleotide polymorphism; meat quality; pig breeding

MeSH Terms

Animals
Breeding
DNA
Genetic Markers
Genotype
Humans
Meat
Muscles
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
Swine
DNA
Genetic Markers