Detection of Imprinted Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) for Growth Traits in Pigs

As an experimental reference population, crosses between Korean native pig and Landraces were established and information on growth traits was recorded. Animals were genotyped for 24 microsatellite markers covering chromosomes 2, 6, and 7 for partial-genome scan to identify chromosomal regions that have effects on growth traits. quantitative trait loci (QTL) effects were estimated using interval mapping by the regression method under the line cross models with a test for imprinting effects. For test of presence of QTL, chromosome-wide and single position significance thresholds were estimated by permutation test and normal significance threshold for the imprinting test were derived. For tests against the Mendelian model, additive and dominance coefficients were permuted within individuals. Thresholds (5% chromosome-wide) against the no-QTL model for the analyzed traits ranged from 4.57 to 4.99 for the Mendelian model and from 4.14 to 4.67 for the imprinting model, respectively. Partial-genome scan revealed significant evidence for 4 QTL affecting growth traits, and 2 out of the 4 QTLs were imprinted. This study demonstrated that testing for imprinting should become a standard procedure to unravel the genetic control of multi-factorial traits. The models and tests developed in this study allowed the detection and evaluation of imprinted QTL.