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Article
Whole-genome association analyses for lifetime reproductive traits in the pig
Journal of Animal Science
  • Suneel K. Onteru, Iowa State University
  • B. Fan, Iowa State University
  • Marja Tellervo Nikkila, Iowa State University
  • Dorian J. Garrick, Iowa State University
  • Kenneth J Stalder, Iowa State University
  • Max F. Rothschild, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
1-1-2011
DOI
10.2527/jas.2010-3236
Abstract

Profits for commercial pork producers vary in part because of sow productivity or sow productive life (SPL) and replacement costs. During the last decade, culling rates of sows have increased to more than 50% in the United States. Both SPL and culling rates are influenced by genetic and nongenetic factors. A whole-genome association study was conducted for pig lifetime reproductive traits, including lifetime total number born (LTNB), lifetime number born alive (LNBA), removal parity, and the ratio between lifetime nonproductive days and herd life. The proportion of phenotypic variance explained by markers was 0.15 for LTNB and LNBA, 0.12 for removal parity, and 0.06 for the ratio between lifetime nonproductive days and herd life. Several informative QTL regions (e.g., 14 QTL regions for LTNB) and genes within the regions (e.g., SLC22A18 on SSC2 for LTNB) were associated with lifetime reproductive traits in this study. Genes associated with LTNB and LNBA were similar, reflecting the high genetic correlation (0.99 ± 0.003) between these traits. Functional annotation revealed that many genes at the associated regions are expressed in reproductive tissues. For instance, the SLC22A18 gene on SSC2 associated with LTNB has been shown to be expressed in the placenta of mice. Many of the QTL regions showing associations coincided with previously identified QTL for fat deposition. This reinforces the role of fat regulation for lifetime reproductive traits. Overall, this whole-genome association study provides a list of genomic locations and markers associated with pig lifetime reproductive traits that could be considered for SPL in future studies.

Comments

This is an article from Journal of Animal Science 89 (2011): 988, doi:10.2527/jas.2010-3236. Posted with permission.

Copyright Owner
American Society of Animal Science
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Suneel K. Onteru, B. Fan, Marja Tellervo Nikkila, Dorian J. Garrick, et al.. "Whole-genome association analyses for lifetime reproductive traits in the pig" Journal of Animal Science Vol. 89 Iss. 4 (2011) p. 988 - 995
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kenneth_stalder/95/