• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.939-945
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• 2003

Seventeen Chinese indigenous pig breeds and three introduced pig breeds had been carried out by means of vertical polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). According to the results, eight serum protein loci were highly polymorphic except Pi-2 and Cp. The polymorphism information content (PIC) of Hpx was the highest (0.5268), while that of Cp was the lowest (0.0257). The population genetic variation index showed that about 84% genetic variation existed in the population, and the rest of 16% distributed between the populations. The genetic variation of Yimeng black pig and Duroc were the highest and the lowest, respectively. The genetic variation of Chinese indigenous pig breeds was much more than that of exotic groups. Genetic distance results showed that Chinese indigenous pig breeds were classified into four groups with the three introduced pig breeds clustered into another group. The results also supported the geographic distribution of Chinese indigenous pig breeds in certain extent.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.525-532
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• 2011

Insufficient pre-slaughter fasting leaves serious amount of feed-like contents (designated here as un-fasted stomach spent feed, USSF) in the eviscerated pig stomach. This study was intended to evoke economical and environmental seriousness of USSF discharge by estimating its value as pig feed. For finishing pigs feeding trial, three levels (0, 5, and 10%) of USSF were blended with pig feed to prepare control and two treatment diets, respectively. A total of 42 (21 males, 21 females) crossbred (Landrace ${\times}$ Yorkshire ${\times}$ Duroc) finishing pigs weighing $81.5{\pm}8.0$ kg were employed to 28d feeding trial and in vivo digestibility trial by $Cr_2O_3$ indicator method with 7 males and 7 female pigs per treatment. In vitro total tract digestion of USSF showed 70.5% and 57.6% of DM and OM digestibilities, respectively which were poorer (p<0.05) than those of pig diet. There were no differences in body weight gain, daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio among treatments although 10% USSF substitution exerted relatively poor performance. In vivo apparent digestibilities of diets containing USSF 5% and 10% were lower (p<0.05) than that of 100% pig feed. There were no differences (p>0.05) in dressing percentage and carcass grade among treatments. Results of this study showed that 5% USSF substitution in finishing pigs diet did not exert any disadvantage in terms of production performance and carcass grade. This study implied that un-fasted slaughter causing excessive excretion of USSF should be avoided. If not avoidable, the USSF should not be wasted in abattoir but could be recycled as pig feed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Objective: Three genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and a meta-analysis of GWAS were conducted to explore the genetic mechanisms underlying variation in pig teat number. Methods: We performed three GWAS and a meta-analysis for teat number on three pig populations, including a White Duroc${\times}$Erhualian $F_2$ resource population (n = 1,743), a Chinese Erhualian pig population (n = 320) and a Chinese Sutai pig population (n = 383). Results: We detected 24 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that surpassed the genome-wide significant level on Sus Scrofa chromosomes (SSC) 1, 7, and 12 in the $F_2$ resource population, corresponding to four loci for pig teat number. We highlighted vertnin (VRTN) and lysine demethylase 6B (KDM6B) as two interesting candidate genes at the loci on SSC7 and SSC12. No significant associated SNPs were identified in the meta-analysis of GWAS. Conclusion: The results verified the complex genetic architecture of pig teat number. The causative variants for teat number may be different in the three populations

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.12.1-12.5
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• 2015

Background: The Korean native pig (KNP) is generally thought to have come from northern China to the Korean peninsula approximately 2000 years ago. KNP pigs were at the brink of extinction in the 1980s, since then efforts have been made to restore the breed by bringing together the remaining stocks in South Korea. As a result, KNP was registered as a breed in 2006. To find additional breed-specific markers that are distinct among pig breeds, variations in O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT) were investigated. OGT is located on chromosome X and catalyzes the post-translational addition of a single O-linked-${\beta}$-N-acetylglucosamine to target proteins. Findings: Length polymorphism in the intron 20 of OGT was identified. The intron 20 of OGT from Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire breeds was 281-bp longer than that from either KNP or Chinese Meishan pigs. The difference between the Western pig breeds (BB genotype) and KNP or Meishan pigs (AA genotype) was due to an inserted 276-bp element and the 5-bp ACTTG. Conclusions: The polymorphism in OGT identified in this study may be used as an additional marker for determining the breed of origin among Meishan and the Western pig breeds. The length polymorphism suggests that the locus near OGT is not fixed in KNP. This marker would be relevant in determining the breed of origin in crossbred pigs between KNP pigs with known genotypes and the Western pig breeds with BB genotypes, thus confirming the contribution of the X chromosome from each breed.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.403-409
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• 2010

Accurate methods for the identification of closely related species or breeds in raw and processed meats must be developed in order to protect both consumers and producers from mislabeling and fraud. This paper describes the development of DNA markers for the discrimination and improvement of Korean native pig (KNP) meat. The KIT gene is related to pig coat color and is often used as a candidate marker. A 538 bp fragment comprising intron 19 of the pig KIT gene was amplified by PCR using specific primers, after which the PCR amplicons of a number of meat samples from KNP and three major improved breeds (Landrace, Duroc and Yorkshire) were sequenced in order to find a nucleotide region suitable for PCR-RFLP analysis. Sequence data showed the presence of two nucleotide substitutions, g.276G>A and g.295A>C, between KNP and the improved pig breeds. Digestion of KIT amplicons with AccII enzyme generated characteristic PCR-RFLP profiles that allowed discrimination between meats from KNP and improved pig. KNP showed three visible DNA bands of 264/249, 199, and 75 bp, whereas DNA bands of 249, 199, and 90 bp were detected in the three improved pig breeds. Therefore, the 75 bp DNA fragment was specific only to KNP, whereas the 90 bp DNA fragment was specific to the improved breeds. The breed-specific DNA markers reported here that target the KIT gene could be useful for the identification of KNP meat from improved pig meats, thus contributing to the prevention of falsified breed labeling.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.1091-1100
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• 2023

Objective: The present study is to examine the effect of high inclusion of co-products in pig diets (referred to as an alternative diet) during the finishing stage on pig growth performance, meat quality and boar taint compounds. Methods: Growing pigs were fed an alternative diet made with distillers dried grains with solubles (25%), canola meal (20%), and wheat middling (15%) or a control diet based on barley and soybean meal to investigate the impact of co-products on pig performance and meat quality. Sixteen female and sixteen entire male Duroc×(Large White×Landrace) pigs (22.6±2.07 kg, body weight±standard error) were equally allocated to the diets. Results: Pigs fed the alternative diet had a lower feed intake; however, growth rate and feed conversion efficiency were unaffected by diet. A diet by sex interaction was found for gain:feed whereby males fed the alternative diet had the best feed conversion (p<0.01). Pork from pigs fed the alternative diet had lower a^* and Chroma and protein % (p<0.05), while other meat quality characteristics were unaffected. The alternative diet reduced backfat skatole levels (p<0.001). Conclusion: A diet containing high inclusion levels of co-products can be fed to pigs during the finishing stage without detrimental effects on pig performance or meat quality and with the potential to enhance pork flavour. This finding suggests a solution to increase the sustainable development of pig production.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.616-627
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• 2014

The Lanyu is a miniature pig breed indigenous to Lanyu Island, Taiwan. It is distantly related to Asian and European pig breeds. It has been inbred to generate two breeds and crossed with Landrace and Duroc to produce two hybrids for laboratory use. Selecting sets of informative genetic markers to track the genetic qualities of laboratory animals and stud stock is an important function of genetic databases. For more than two decades, Lanyu derived breeds of common ancestry and crossbreeds have been used to examine the effectiveness of genetic marker selection and optimal approaches for individual assignment. In this paper, these pigs and the following breeds: Berkshire, Duroc, Landrace and Yorkshire, Meishan and Taoyuan, TLRI Black Pig No. 1, and Kaohsiung Animal Propagation Station Black pig are studied to build a genetic reference database. Nineteen microsatellite markers (loci) provide information on genetic variation and differentiation among studied breeds. High differentiation index ($F_{ST}$) and Cavalli-Sforza chord distances give genetic differentiation among breeds, including Lanyu's inbred populations. Inbreeding values ($F_{IS}$) show that Lanyu and its derived inbred breeds have significant loss of heterozygosity. Individual assignment testing of 352 animals was done with different numbers of microsatellite markers in this study. The testing assigned 99% of the animals successfully into their correct reference populations based on 9 to 14 markers ranking D-scores, allelic number, expected heterozygosity ($H_E$) or $F_{ST}$, respectively. All miss-assigned individuals came from close lineage Lanyu breeds. To improve individual assignment among close lineage breeds, microsatellite markers selected from Lanyu populations with high polymorphic, heterozygosity, $F_{ST}$ and D-scores were used. Only 6 to 8 markers ranking $H_E$, $F_{ST}$ or allelic number were required to obtain 99% assignment accuracy. This result suggests empirical examination of assignment-error rates is required if discernible levels of co-ancestry exist. In the reference group, optimum assignment accuracy was achievable achieved through a combination of different markers by ranking the heterozygosity, $F_{ST}$ and allelic number of close lineage populations.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.903-908
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• 2004

Alternative initiation codon(AlC) has been reported in the mitochondrial genes in various mammalian species. We investigated the AlC of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 2 gene(rntDNA ND2) in five pig breeds. Two kinds of initiation codons(ATA/ATf) showing different frequencies among tested pig breeds were used. While all Large White pigs had ATA as an initiator methionine codon, all Landrace pigs had ATf. The other breeds(Berkshire, Duroc and Hampshire) had both initiation codons with the ATA frequencies, 91.9, 21.3 and 60.00/0, respectively. In the previous reports, all Chinese indigenous pig breeds were identified to have unique initiation codon ATA. Although the effect of Ale on the translation of mtDNA ND2 has not been studied in this study, AlC patterns in mtDNA ND2 will contribute to the maternity test using molecular markers in pig breeding.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.287-291
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• 2016

For evaluating the boar semen quality, sperm motility (MOT) is an important parameter because the movement of spermatozoa indicates active metabolism, membrane integrity and fertilizing capacity. Estrogen receptors 2(ESR2) is involved in estrogen related apoptosis in cell cycle spermatogenesis, but their functions have not been confirmed in pig until now. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze their association with sperm motility and kinematic characteristics. DNA samples from 105 Duroc pigs with records of semen motility and kinematic characteristics [Total motile spermatozoa (MOT), Curvilinear velocity(VCL), Straight-line velocity(VSL), the ratio between VSL and VCL(LIN), Amplitude of Lateral Head displacement(ALH)] were analyzed. A SNP in coding region of ESR2 g.35547A > G in exon 5 was associated with MOT (p < 0.05) in Duroc population. Therefore, we suggest that the porcine ESR2 gene may be used as a molecular marker for Duroc boar semen quality, although its functional effects were not defined yet. These results might shed new light on the roles of ESR2 in spermatogenesis as candidate gene for boar fertility, but still the lack of association across populations should be considered.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.1489-1495
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• 2002

Five regions and 258 pigs were selected for this study: North (Beijing), Central (Wuhan), South (Guangzhou), Southwest (Chongqing), Northeast (Harbin). Five typical genetics of growing-finishing pig were selected: Landrace${\times}$Large White${\times}$Beijing Black, Duroc${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Large White, Duroc${\times}$Large White${\times}$Landrace, Landrace${\times}$Rongchang, Landrace${\times}$Harbin White, respectively at each sites. The basal diet was a corn-soybean meal containing sufficient nutrients to meet requirements. Carcass fat-free lean gain was determined by dissecting and analyzing chemical composition of the carcass. Cubic function fitted lean moistures to live weights better than other functions. Exponential function fitted lean lipids to live weights equally to allometric function. Carcass fat-free lean gain of Duroc${\times}$Large White${\times}$Landrace, Landrace${\times}$Large White${\times}$Beijing Black, Duroc${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Large White, Landrace${\times}$Harbin White, Landrace${\times}$Rongchang from 20 to 100 kg of average body weight was 259 g/d, 261 g/d, 311 g/d, 220 g/d, 200 g/d, respectively. All are lower than intermediate fat-free lean gain in NRC (1998).