• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.514-520
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• 2019

The reduction in performance due to inbreeding (i.e. inbreeding depression) has long been documented in plant and animal populations. The population of Korean native pigs are small and this breed is valuable in Korea.. This study was aimed to investigate effects of inbreeding depression on total number of piglets born (TNB) and number of piglets born alive (NBA) in Korean native pigs. We used 2,806 pedigree and 303 sows's data with 483 phenotypic records. After estimating genetic parameters for each traits, inbreeding depression was estimated using a mixed model in which the inbreeding coefficient was included as a covariate. Korean native pigs had high heritability for each traits. Inbreeding coefficient constantly increased from 1998 to 2017~2018 but there is no reduction for each traits in 2017~2018 in compared with those in 1998. Significant inbreeding depression was detected for TNB (p=0.03) but not for NBA (p=0.41). In addition there are significantly positive interactions between inbreeding coefficient and breeding value for both traits (p<0.05). These results suggest that Korean native pigs are still having genetic variation for TNB and NBA, which could overcome reproductive risks from inbreeding coefficient increase.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.154-160
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• 2021

Objective: The effect of environmental enrichment on the behaviour of piglets in the nursery phase was evaluated. Methods: A total of 450 hybrid pigs (21 day old), including both females and uncastrated males, weighing approximately 6 kg, were distributed in a completely randomised design with 3 treatments and 3 replicates of 50 animals each. The treatments were: i) pen without environmental enrichment (control), ii) treatment consisting of continuous environmental enrichment (CEE) with rubber balls throughout the experimental period, and iii) treatment consisting of environmental enrichment with washed balls (EEWB) during the whole experimental period which were removed daily for washing. For the behavioural evaluation, 10 animals were randomly selected per replicate. The behavioural assessments were performed once a week, from 8 am to 6 pm, using images captured with a video camera. The data were submitted to non-parametric analyses, the means were compared using the Bonferroni test, and Person's correlations were also calculated. Results: A statistical difference (p = 0.001) was observed in the B5 (playful) behaviour; the animals in the EEWB treatment group had a higher frequency of this behaviour than animals in the control treatment group. The animals in the control group showed a higher frequency of B7 behaviour (lying down) (p = 0.026) than those in the EEWB and CEE treatment groups. The animals in the control group had a higher frequency of the B9 (belly nosing) behaviour than those in the EEWB group (p = 0.015). There was a tendency towards a higher frequency of behaviour B3 (walking in the pen) (p = 0.067) when the animals received the control treatment than treatments EEWB or CEE. Conclusion: The use of an enriching object improved the animal welfare and altered the correlation between the evaluated behaviours compared to the animals that did not have environmental enrichment.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.29-42
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• 2023

Objective: Pigs, an ideal biomedical model for human diseases, suffer from about 50% early embryonic and fetal death, a major cause of fertility loss worldwide. However, identifying the causal variant remains a huge challenge. This study aimed to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and candidate genes for the number of mummified (NM) piglets using the imputed whole-genome sequence (WGS) and validate the potential candidate genes. Methods: The imputed WGS was introduced from genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) using a multi-breed reference population. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for NM piglets at birth from a Landrace pig populatiGWAS peak located on SSC11: 0.10 to 7.11 Mbp (Top SNP, SSC11:1,889,658 bp; p = 9.98E-13) was identified in cyclin dependent kinase on. A total of 300 Landrace pigs were genotyped by GBS. The whole-genome variants were imputed, and 4,252,858 SNPs were obtained. Various molecular experiments were conducted to determine how the genes affected NM in pigs. Results: A strong GWAS peak located on SSC11: 0.10 to 7.11 Mbp (Top SNP, SSC11:1,889,658 bp; p = 9.98E-13) was identified in cyclin dependent kinase 8 (CDK8) gene, which plays a crucial role in embryonic retardation and lethality. Based on the molecular experiments, we found that Y-box binding protein 1 (YBX1) was a crucial transcription factor for CDK8, which mediated the effect of CDK8 in the proliferation of porcine ovarian granulosa cells via transforming growth factor beta/small mother against decapentaplegic signaling pathway, and, as a consequence, affected embryo quality, indicating that this pathway may be contributing to mummified fetal in pigs. Conclusion: A powerful imputation-based association study was performed to identify genes associated with NM in pigs. CDK8 was suggested as a functional gene for the proliferation of porcine ovarian granulosa cells, but further studies are required to determine causative mutations and the effect of loci on NM in pigs.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.404-416
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• 2023

Objective: Daweizi (DWZ) is a famous indigenous pig breed in China and characterized by tender meat and high fat percentage. However, the expression profiles and functions of transcripts in DWZ pigs is still in infancy. The object of this study was to depict the transcript profiles in DWZ pigs and screen the potential pathway influence adipogenesis and fat deposition, Methods: Histological analysis of backfat tissue was firstly performed between DWZ and lean-type Yorkshire pigs, and then RNA sequencing technology was utilized to explore miRNAs, lncRNAs and mRNAs profiles in backfat tissue. 18 differentially expressed (DE) transcripts were randomly selected for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) to validate the reliability of the sequencing results. Finally, gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis were conducted to investigate the potential pathways influence adipocyte differentiation, adipogenesis and lipid metabolism, and a schematic model was further proposed. Results: A total of 1,625 differentially expressed transcripts were identified in DWZ pigs, including 27 upregulated and 45 downregulated miRNAs, 64 upregulated and 119 down-regulated lncRNA, 814 upregulated and 556 downregulated mRNAs. QPCR analysis exhibited strong consistency with the sequencing data. GO and KEGG analysis elucidated that the differentially expressed transcripts were mainly associated with cell growth and death, signal transduction, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), PI3K-Akt, adipocytokine and foxo signaling pathways, all of which are strongly involved in cell development, lipid metabolism and adipogenesis. Further analysis indicated that the BGIR9823_87926/miR-194a-5p/AQP7 network may be effective in the process of adipocyte differentiation or adipogenesis. Conclusion: Our study provides comprehensive insights into the regulatory network of backfat deposition and lipid metabolism in pigs from the point of view of miRNAs, lncRNAs and mRNAs.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2007

Data of 369 commercial pigs produced from YorkshrexLancrace (YL F1) sows crossed with either Duroc (D), Berkshire (B) or BerkshirexDuroc(BD F1) as a terminal sire were used for the comparison of carcass garde and real retail cut yield. The crosses were performed between May, 2004 and May, 2006 at three interrlated farms belonging to the Gyeongam pork brand. The average carcass weight, carcass backfat thickness, carcass rate, AB grade ratio, lean meat yield were 84.78±0.33kg, 20.72±0.237mm, 76.25±0.208%, 85.7% and 44.30±0.158%, respectively. The average weights of real retail cut were 10.32±0.062kg belly, 4.17±0.025kg boston butt, 3.88±0.022kg rib, 8.40±0.040kg picnic, 15.15±0.081kg ham, 6.44±0.043kg loin and 0.94±0.006kg tender loin. In comparisons of carcass traits among cross types, carcass weights and backfat thicknesses of YL(♀)×B(♂), YL(♀)×BD(♂) and YL(♀)×D(♂) were 85.73±0.516kg, 82.69±0.788kg and 84.79±0.603kg, respectively and 22.09±0.356mm, 20.33±0.543mm and 19.58±0.415mm, respectively. The YL(♀)×B(♂) cross showed the highest carcass weight and backfat thickness. The ratio of AB grade were 0.83±0.030% in YL(♀)×B(♂), 0.97±0.046% in YL(♀)×BD(♂) and 0.83±0.035% in YL(♀)×D(♂), and the YL(♀)×BD(♂) was higher than other two crosses. Weights of belly were 10.28±0.092kg in YL(♀)×B(♂), 10.59±0.133kg in YL(♀)×BD(♂) and 10.25±0.107kg in YL(♀)×D(♂). Consequently, the YL(♀)×BD(♂) cross showed the highest yield. In conclusion, there was no difference in carcass yield of commercial pigs derived from BD (F1) terminal sires with those from D terminal sires. However, weight of belly and AB grade ratio from BD (F1) terminal sires are higher than two others. Therefore, BD (F1) sire could be utilized as terminal one and contribute better profit for the pig industry.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.255-261
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• 2020

This study was undertaken to evaluate the growth, body shape and carcass cutting yield traits of Duroc (D) and crossbred (Duroc×Pietrain×Pietrain; DPP) pigs. A total of 147 D and 101 DPP pigs were used for analyzing the growth trait, whereas 16 D and 16 DPP pigs were evaluated for carcass yields. Backfat thickness (BF) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) were significantly higher in D (14.07±0.24 mm, 2,101 g) than in DPP (12.69±3.25 mm, 1,909 g) (p <0.001). Moreover, D exhibited significantly higher body shape traits including body height (BH), chest depth (CD) and chest width (CW), as compared to DPP pigs (p <0.001). No differences were observed for body length (BL) between the two strains. Analysis of the carcass cutting yield traits determined for D and DPP were in the order: ham (HM; 31.17% and 33.43%), belly (BY; 23.40% and 19.55%), and picnic shoulder (PS; 16.54% and 16.87%), respectively. Then, HM showed a difference of 2.26% P with D(31.17%) and DPP(33.43%), while BY showed a difference of 3.85% P with D(23.40%) and DPP(19.55%). Taken together, our results indicate that DPP has a better feed efficiency than D, and therefore has the potential to increase the production of low-fat pork, targeting consumers having a high preference who have opted for a healthy lifestyle. These results can be used as basic data for developing an ideal pig breed.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.349-354
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• 2004

Stress-susceptible pigs have been known as the porcine stress syndrome (PSS), swine PSS, also known as malignant hyperthermia (MH), is characterized as sudden death and production of poor meat quality such as PSE (pale, soft and exudative) meat after slaughtering. PSS and PSE meat cause major economic losses in the pig industry. A point mutation in the gene coding for the ryanodine receptor (RYR1) in porcine skeletal muscle, also known calcium (Ca$^{2+}$) release channel, has been associated with swine PSS and halothane sensitivity. We used the PCR-RFLP(restriction fragment length polymorphism) and PCR-SSCP (single strand conformation polymorphism) methods to detect the PSS gene mutation (C1843T) in the RYR1 gene and to estimate genotype frequencies of PSS gene in Korean pig breed populations. In PCR-RFLP and SSCP analyses, three genotypes of homozygous normal (N/M), heterozygous carrier (N/n) and homozygous recessive mutant (n/n) were detected using agarose or polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, respectively. The proportions of normal, carrier and PSS pigs were 57.1, 35.7 and 7.1％ for Landrace, 82.5, 15.8 and 1.7％ far L. Yorkshire, 95.2, 4.8 and 0.0％ for Duroc and 72.0, 22.7 and 5.3％ for Crossbreed. Consequently, DNA-based diagnosis for the identification of stress-susceptible pigs of PSS and pigs producing PSE meat is a powerful technique. Especially, PCR-SSCP method may be useful as a rapid, sensitive and inexpensive test for the large-scale screening of PSS genotypes and pigs with PSE meat in the pork industry.y.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.923-932
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• 2003

This study was carried out to estimate the effects of breed and environment such as sex, test station, test year, test season, parity, initial and final weight on average daily gain, age at 90kg, backfat thickness, feed efficiency, lean percent and selection index on the basis of the performance data collected from 25,790 pigs of Duroc, Yorkshire and Landrace breeds which were performance-tested at the Korea Swine Testing Station from 1991 to 2002. The results obtained in the study are summarized as follows; 1. The means of the major economic traits were estimated as 959.95${\pm}$0.699g for average daily gain, 138.36${\pm}$0.072days for age at 90kg, 1.41${\pm}$0.001cm for backfat thickness, 2.33${\pm}$0.001 for feed efficiency, 56.71${\pm}$0.018% for lean percent and 221.65${\pm}$0.113 for selection index. 2. The effect of breed was statistically significant for all studied traits. Briefly, Duroc showed the best performance for the average daily gain and age at 90kg. Landrace had the best performances for the backfat thickness and lean meat percent. In feed efficiency and selection index, Yorkshire had a better score than other breeds. 3. The least-squares means of female and male for the traits studied were 923.05${\pm}$1.289g and 974.53${\pm}$0.856g for average daily gain, 139.74${\pm}$0.145days and 137.21${\pm}$0.097days for age at 90kg, 1.49${\pm}$0.002cm and 1.39${\pm}$0.002cm for backfat thickness, 2.43${\pm}$0.002 and 2.28${\pm}$0.002 for feed efficiency, 56.43${\pm}$0.034% and 56.81${\pm}$0.023% for lean percent and 211.37${\pm}$0.194 and 224.61${\pm}$0.129 for selection index. Therefore, males were superior to females for all traits examined. 4. The effect of test station was statistically significant for all traits except for selection index. Performances for age at 90kg, backfat thickness, feed efficiency and lean meat percent collected from Test station 2 were higher than those from Test station 1. However, Test station 1 showed better average daily gain. 5. The initial weight and final weight included as a covariate in this study had a significant influence on average daily gain, age at 90kg, backfat thickness, feed efficiency and selection index. From the absolute values of the estimated regression coefficients, it was inferred that the final weight had greater effect for the investigated traits than the initial weight.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.132-141
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• 2012

This current survey was conducted to examine consumer attitudes toward factors determining beef purchasing and improving distribution systems. The frequency of beef purchasing was shown to reflect social and economic status, where inhabitants in large cities, such as Seoul, with higher salaries showed a higher frequency. In addition, consumers that were in their forties bought beef more frequently than consumers that were in their twenties. Consumers in Seoul and the megalopolis with a monthly income of higher than 200 million won preferred to purchase meat from department stores and discount markets. In contrast, people in small cities with lower incomes tended to buy meat from butcher shops and brand shops. In a question regarding unsatisfaction factors of retail beef, individuals that were in their thirties with a high income had concerns associated with packaging problems. For people under thirty with low income, the consistency of quality and price were the prime concerns. In regards to the beef grading system, consumer response varied between inhabitants, monthly income and age group, where consumers from small cities that were in their twenties and forties with a low income had a negative viewpoint. For the differential beef distribution system, housewives between the ages of 30 and 40 from a small city with an income higher than 200 million won had a positive response; however, a large number of consumers were not familiar with this system. The most demanding beef cuts were in the following order: loin, flank and rib. In addition, the most important factors determining purchasing beef were as follows: price, breed and portion.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.125-132
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• 2013

In the present study, to determine the effects of terminal sire strains, carcass characteristics, yields of retail cut, and meat quality of 425 pigs were examined. Terminal sires were divided into five strains (D1, D2, B1, B2, and BD) based on the countries of origin and breeds. The strains D1 and D2 showed high grade 1+ appearance ratios and strains B1, B2, and D1 showed high appearance ratios of carcass yield grade A. As for the real retail cut yields of meat, strain D1 showed large real retail cut yields of meat in shoulder, rib, fore leg, loin, belly, tenderloin and hind leg. Moisture contents were significantly higher in strain B1, and protein and fat contents were significantly higher for strain D1 than in the other strains (p<0.05). Shear force values were significantly higher for strain B1 than in the other strains (p<0.05). For meat color properties, the lightness were significantly higher in strains D1, D2, and BD, and the yellowness were significantly higher in strains D1, D2, and BD relative to the other strains (p<0.05). In sensory evaluation, drip of strains D1 and D2 were significantly lower while marbling and overall acceptability were significantly higher in the other four strains (p<0.05). Therefore, when considering the results of the present study comprehensively, using strains D1 and D2 that showed high grade 1+ appearance ratios, large real retail cut yields of belly, significantly higher lightness and sensory evaluation will be helpful to the incomes of producers and farm households.