• Animal Bioscience
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• 제36권6호
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• pp.861-868
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• 2023

Objective: Loin muscle area (LMA) is an important target trait of pig breeding. This study aimed to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genes associated with LMA in the Duroc×(Landrace×Yorkshire) crossbred pigs (DLY). Methods: A genome-wide association study was performed using the Illumina 50K chip to map the genetic marker and genes associated with LMA in 511 DLY pigs (255 boars and 256 sows). Results: After quality control, we detected 35,426 SNPs, including six SNPs significantly associated with LMA in pigs, with MARC0094338 and ASGA0072817 being the two key SNPs responsible for 1.77% and 2.48% of the phenotypic variance of LMA, respectively. Based on previous research, we determined two candidate genes (growth hormone receptor [GHR] and 3-oxoacid Co A-transferase 1 [OXCT1]) that are associated with fat deposition and muscle growth and found further additional genes (MYOCD, ARHGAP44, ELAC2, MAP2K4, FBXO4, FBLL1, RARS1, SLIT3, and RANK3) that are presumed to have an effect on LMA. Conclusion: This study contributes to the identification of the mutation that underlies quantitative trait loci associated with LMA and to future pig breeding programs based on marker-assisted selection. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of the identified candidate genes in the physiological processes involved in LMA regulation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제15권11호
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• pp.1543-1545
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• 2002

A T$\longrightarrow$A mutation in the promoter region of porcine myostatin (MSTN) gene has been identified in our previous work. This study analyzed the associations of the myostatin genotypes (TT, TA) caused by this mutation with birth weigh in Yorkshire pigs. Data from 211 unrelated individuals were collected three times from one breeding farm. Detections of the mutation were carried out by PCR-RFLPs approach. The effects of MSTN genotypes (TT and TA) on birth weight were compared by least square means. The results showed that for birth weight of Yorkshire pigs, individuals with TA genotype were significantly higher than those with TT genotype (p<0.05), and the birth weight for pigs with TA genotype were 1.37 kg in average but only 1.25 kg for pigs with TT genotype, indicating a positive effect of birth weight for A allele.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제20권10호
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• pp.1485-1489
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• 2007

Achaete-scute like 2 (ASCL2) gene encodes a member of the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor which is essential for the maintenance of proliferating trophoblasts during placental development. ASCL2 gene preferentially expresses the maternal allele in the mouse. However, it escapes genomic imprinting in the human. In this study, the complete open reading frame consisting of 193 amino acids of ASCL2 gene was obtained. Sequence analysis indicated that a C-G mutation existed in the 3' region between Meishan and Large White pigs. The polymorphism was used to determine the monoallelic or biallelic expression with RT-PCR-RFLP in pigs of Large $White{\times}Meishan$ $F_1$ hybrids. Imprinting analysis indicated that the ASCL2 gene expression was biallelic in all the tested tissues (heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, stomach, small intestine, skeletal muscle, fat, uterus, ovary and pituitary). PCR-RFLP was used to detect the polymorphism in 270 pigs of the "$Large\;White{\times}Meishan$" $F_2$ resource population. The statistical results showed highly significant associations of the genotypes and fat meat percentage (FMP), lean meat percentage (LMP) and ratio of lean to fat (RLF) (p<0.01), and significant associations of the genotypes and loin eye area (LEA) and internal fat rate (IFR) (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제32권10호
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• pp.1483-1490
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• 2019

Objective: To explore the molecular mechanisms of fat metabolism and deposition in pigs, an experiment was conducted to identify hepatic mRNAs and miRNAs expression and determine the potential interaction of them in two phenotypically extreme pig breeds. Methods: mRNA and miRNA profiling of liver from 70-day Jinhua (JH) and Landrace (LD) pigs were performed using RNA sequencing. Blood samples were taken to detect results of serum biochemistry. Bioinformatics analysis were applied to construct differentially expressed miRNA-mRNA network. Results: Serum total triiodothyronine and total thyroxine were significantly lower in Jinhua pigs, but the content of serum total cholesterol (TCH) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were strikingly higher. A total of 467 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 35 differentially expressed miRNAs (DE miRNAs) were identified between JH and LD groups. Gene ontology analysis suggested that DEGs were involved in oxidation-reduction, lipid biosynthetic and lipid metabolism process. Interaction network of DEGs and DE miRNAs were constructed, according to target prediction results. Conclusion: We generated transcriptome and miRNAome profiles of liver from JH and LD pig breeds which represent distinguishing phenotypes of growth and metabolism. The potential miRNA-mRNA interaction networks may provide a comprehensive understanding in the mechanism of lipid metabolism. These results serve as a basis for further investigation on biological functions of miRNAs in the porcine liver.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제18권11호
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• pp.1542-1547
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• 2005

The Melanocortin-4 Receptor (MC4R) and Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 (IGF2) are two important candidate genes related to fat deposition and carcass traits. MC4R was found on study on human obesity and then was studied as candidate gene affecting food intake and fat deposition traits in mice and pigs. Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 (IGF2) gene plays an important role on tumor cell proliferation and muscle growth. It also affects fat traits and live weight in pigs. In this paper, MC4R and IGF2 were studied as two candidate genes associated with important economic traits such as fat deposition and carcass traits in five different pig populations. Taq I-PCR-RFLP and Bcn I-PCR-RFLP were respectively used to detect the polymorphism of genotypes of MC4R and IGF2 genes. Different MC4R genotype frequencies were observed in four populations. IGF2 genotype frequencies were also different in two populations. The results of association analysis show both MC4R and IGF2 genes were significantly associated with fat deposition and carcass traits in about 300 pigs. This work will add new evidence of MC4R and IGF2 affecting fat deposition and carcass traits in pigs and show that two genes can be used as important candidate genes for marker assistant selection (MAS) of growth and lean meat percentage in pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.471-477
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• 2008

The porcine PRKAG3 (RN) gene encodes the regulatory gamma subunit of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which is a good candidate gene affecting meat quality. In this study, the effects of two missense mutations A595G (Ile199Val) and G154A (Gly52Ser) in porcine PRKAG3 gene on meat quality traits were studied in M. Longissimus dorsi (LD), M. Semispinalis capitis (SC) and M. Biceps femoris (BF) from different populations of 326 pigs. The PRKAG3 alleles 199I, 199IV, 52S and 52G were identified with PCR-RFLPs and all genotypes - 199I/199I, 199I/199V, 199V/199V, 52S/52S, 52S/52G and 52G/52G - were found. The frequency of V allele was larger than that of I allele in all populations. I allele frequency was zero in Chinese Meishan pigs (population D) especially. G allele frequency was larger than that of S allele in all populations except Large White (population A). Both variations at the PRKAG3 locus significantly affected these meat quality traits. The pork meat quality has not previously been established in Meishan or crosses thereof. The results suggested that generally pH of LD, SC and BF was higher in Meishan pigs than that in other populations. Moreover, Meishan pigs showed higher water-holding capacity and intramuscular fat (IMF), lower water content and water loss percentage compared to other populations in terms of the two variations. The results present here supply new evidence that alleles V199I and G52S at the PRKAG3 locus affect pork meat quality and provide useful information on pork production.

• 한국축산시설환경학회지
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.27-34
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to increased breeding area in same size pig pen and growth performance of weaning pigs. A total of 330 crossbred ($6.68{\pm}0.36kg$) weaning pigs were subjected to a 42-day feeding trial(3 pens/treatment) in which effects of the semi-floor were compared : NC; Negative control ($0.23m^2/pig$; 40 pigs/pen), PC; Positive control($0.30m^2/pig$; 30 pigs/pen) and Semi-floor($0.30m^2/pig$; 40 pigs/pen). There was a significant effect on BW at 6 week along all treatment(P<0.01). There was a effect of Semi-floor treatment on ADG(average daily gain) only during the first 3 week after weaning(P<0.01). No significant effect was observed in the ADFI during the experiment period. NC treatment had significantly lower BUN value than other treatments(P<0.05). The results from immune and stress response with semi-floor suggest that no negative effects in their blood analysis. Consequently, semi floor treatments increased additional breeding area and also growth performance rather than other treatments in weaning pigs.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제36권2_spc호
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• pp.339-349
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• 2023

Gene editing (GE) offers a new breeding technique (NBT) of sustainable value to animal agriculture. There are 3 GE working sites covering 5 feasible pathways to generate GE pigs along with the crucial intervals of GE/genotyping, microinjection/electroporation, induced pluripotent stem cells, somatic cell nuclear transfer, cryopreservation, and nonsurgical embryo transfer. The extension of NBT in the new era of pig breeding depends on the synergistic effect of GE and reproductive biotechnologies; the outcome relies not only on scientific due diligence and operational excellence but also on the feasibility of application on farms to improve sustainability.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.219-229
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• 2020

Objective: Considering the physiological and clinical importance of leptin receptor (LEPR) in regulating obesity and the fact that porcine LEPR expression is not known to be controlled by lncRNAs and miRNAs, we aim to characterize this gene as a potential target of SSC-miR-323 and the lncRNA TCONS_00010987. Methods: Bioinformatics analyses revealed that lncRNA TCONS_00010987 and LEPR have SSC-miR-323-binding sites and that LEPR might be a target of lncRNA TCONS_00010987 based on cis prediction. Wild-type and mutant TCONS_00010987-target sequence fragments and wild-type and mutant LEPR 3'-UTR fragments were generated and cloned into pmiRRB-REPORT^TM-Control vectors to construct respective recombinant plasmids. HEK293T cells were co-transfected with the SSC-miR-323 mimics or a negative control with constructs harboring the corresponding binding sites and relative luciferase activities were determined. Tissue expression patterns of lncRNA TCONS_00010987, SSC-miR-323, and LEPR in Anqing six-end-white (AQ, the obese breed) and Large White (LW, the lean breed) pigs were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction; backfat expression of LEPR protein was detected by western blotting. Results: Target gene fragments were successfully cloned, and the four recombinant vectors were constructed. Compared to the negative control, SSC-miR-323 mimics significantly inhibited luciferase activity from the wild-type TCONS_00010987-target sequence and wild-type LEPR-3'-UTR (p<0.01 for both) but not from the mutant TCONS_00010987-target sequence and mutant LEPR-3'-UTR (p>0.05 for both). Backfat expression levels of TCONS_00010987 and LEPR in AQ pigs were significantly higher than those in LW pigs (p<0.01), whereas levels of SSC-miR-323 in AQ pigs were significantly lower than those in LW pigs (p<0.05). LEPR protein levels in the backfat tissues of AQ pigs were markedly higher than those in LW pigs (p<0.01). Conclusion: LEPR is a potential target of SSC-miR-323, and TCONS_00010987 might act as a sponge for SSC-miR-323 to regulate LEPR expression.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.320-324
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• 2008

We investigated the effect of ESR gene-based selection on an improvement of litter size in the herds in real (non-experimental) conditions. The pigs were selected for three years. In the tested population the pigs were mated according to a breeding scheme where the individuals with at least one ESR-B allele were preferred in the selection. In the control group (CP; n = 140) the pigs were mated just according to a breeding scheme without knowledge of the ESR genotype. We observed a significant increase in litter size (total number of born, number of born alive and number of weaned piglets per litter) in the final tested ESR-selected population (LP; n = 184) and an insignificant increase in CP as compared with the original population (OP; n = 155). After the selection we could observe a significant increase in the frequency of allele B in LP. Frequency of the genotypes AB and BB increased in both LP and CP; the distribution of the genotypes changed significantly only in LP. An association analysis of the ESR gene effects on reproductive traits in LP showed no significant differences between the genotypes. The results of our study suggest that ESR gene-based selection can be successful also in small herds, under real (non-experimental) conditions with a respect for general breeding principles and limitations and during a short period. An examination of a larger sample population as well as an analysis of selection consequences on other traits (meat and carcass quality) could bring a more conclusive evaluation of ESR-based selection. Nevertheless, the results are encouraging especially for small breeding farms taking a perspective of better litter size improvement.