• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Life Science Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.92.1-92.1
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• 2008

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.1169-1179
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• 2023

Korean native pigs (KNPs) have been one of the traditional livestock primarily raised in rural areas of Korea for centuries. KNPs have adapted to the climate and geography of the Korean Peninsula for a long time, exhibiting excellent adaptability even in challenging environments. For these reasons, the preservation and purification of KNPs are crucial in securing unique genetic resources. Therefore, this review covers the characteristics, production status, commercial value and potential breeding directions of KNPs. Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go for the improvement of KNPs. It is crucial to acknowledge the current challenges, identify the issues, and dedicate efforts to the breed's improvement. Each section of this comprehensive review will play an important role in integrating related research and data into the overall findings. In-depth discussions on the genetic diversity, productivity, genetic conservation, ecological roles, and sustainability of KNPs will be crucial components in the future of KNP business.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.593-600
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• 2006

The effects of breed and sex on individual growth performance and feeding behaviour were studied between 45 and 90 kg BW in two replicates of forty group-housed pigs. The first and the second replicates were carried out during the warm season (i.e. between February and April 2003) and during the hot season (i.e. between August and October 2003), respectively. During the warm season, ambient temperature and relative humidity averaged $25.3^{\circ}C$ and 86.0%. The corresponding values for the hot season were $27.9^{\circ}C$ and 83.6%. The pigs were grouped in pens of 10 animals on the basis of breed (Creole or Large White) and sex (gilt or castrated male) and given ad libitum access to a grower diet (9.0 MJ/kg net energy and 158 g/kg crude protein) via feed intake recording equipment (Acema 48). An ear-tag transponder was inserted into each pig and this allowed the time, duration, and size of individual visits to be recorded. The growth performance and feeding pattern were significantly affected by breed, sex, and season. The Creole pigs (CR) had a lower average daily gain (ADG) (642 vs. 861 g/d, p<0.01) and carcass lean content ($LC_{90kg}$) (35.4 vs. 54.5%; p<0.01) and a higher backfat thickness at 90 kg BW ($BT_{90kg}$) (23.4 vs. 10.4 mm; p<0.01) than Large White pigs (LW) whereas the average daily feed intake (ADFI) was not affected by breed (2.34 vs. 2.22 kg/d, respectively for CR and LW pigs; p>0.10). Consequently, the food:gain ratio was higher in CR than in LW (3.65 vs. 2.58; p<0.01). CR had less frequent meals but ate more feed per meal than LW (5.9 vs. 8.8 meals/d and 431 vs. 279 g/meal; p<0.01). The rate of feed intake was lower (27.6 vs. 33.9 g/min; p<0.01) and the ingestion time per day and per meal were higher in CR than in LW (87.1 vs. 69.7 min/d and 15.8 vs. 8.4 min/meal; p<0.01). The ADFI and BT90 kg were higher (2.38 vs. 2.17 kg/d and 18.1 vs. 15.9 mm; p<0.05) and LC90 kg was lower (43.5 vs. 46.4%; p<0.01) in castrated males (CM) than in gilts (G) whereas ADG was not affected by sex (p = 0.12). The difference in lean content between CM and G was greater in CR than in LW. The ADFI and ADG were reduced during the hot season (2.18 vs.2.38 kg/d and 726 vs. 777 g/d, respectively; p<0.05) whereas feed conversion and carcass lean content were not affected by season (p>0.05). Average feeding time per meal and meal size decreased during the hot season (10.9 vs. 13.2 min/meal and 316 vs. 396 g/meal; p<0.01) whereas the rate of feed intake was not affected by season (p = 0.83). On average, 0.69 of total feed intake was consumed during the diurnal period. However, this partition of feed intake was significantly affected by breed, sex, and season. In conclusion, the breed, sex and season significantly affect performance and feeding pattern in growing pigs raised in a tropical climate. Moreover, the results obtained in the present study suggest that differences observed in BW composition between CR and LW are associated with difference in feeding behaviour, in particular, the short-term regulation of feed intake.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.107-111
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• 2012

Miniature pig sperm cryopreservation is continually researched in biotechnology for breed conservation and reproduction. It is important to control the temperature at each stage of cryopreservation and cryoprotectant. It is also necessary to find the optimal cryoprotectant concentration and chemical elements of the extender. Recently, many studies have used various cryoprotectant materials, such as dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO), ethylene glycol (EG), antifreeze protein (AFP), amides, and glycerol. Glycerol is a commonly used cryoprotectant. However, glycerol has critical cytotoxic properties, including osmotic pressure and it can cause irreversible damage to live cells. Therefore, We focused on membrane fluidity modifications can reduce cell damage from freezing and thawing procedures and evaluated on the positive effects of trehalose to the viability, chromatin integrity, and motility of boar sperm. Miniature pig sperm was separated from semen by washing with modified- Modena B (mMB) extender. After centrifugation, the pellet was diluted with the prepared first extender. This experiment was designed to compare the effects that sperm cryopreservation using two different extenders has on sperm chromatin. The control group used the glycerol only and it was compared with the glycerol and glycerol plus trehalose extender. Sperm viability and motility were evaluated using WST1 assays and computer-assisted semen assays (CASA). Chromatin structure was examined using acridine orange staining. For the motility descriptors, trehalose caused a significant (p<0.01) increase in total motility ($57.80{\pm}4.60%$ in glycerol vs. $75.50{\pm}6.14%$ in glycerol + trehalose) and progressive ($51.20{\pm}5.45%$ in glycerol vs. $70.74{\pm}8.06%$ in glycerol + trehalose). A significant (p<0.05) increase in VAP ($42.70{\pm}5.73{\mu}m/s$ vs. $59.65{\pm}9.47{\mu}m/s$), VSL ($23.06{\pm}3.27{\mu}m/s$ vs. $34.60{\pm}6.58{\mu}m/s$), VCL ($75.36{\pm}11.36{\mu}m/s$ vs. $99.55{\pm}12.91{\mu}m/s$), STR ($54.4{\pm}2.19%$ vs. $58.0{\pm}1.63%$), and LIN ($32.2{\pm}2.05%$ vs. $36.0{\pm}2.45%$) were also detected, respectively. The sperm DNA fragmentation index was 48.8% to glycerol only and 30.6% to glycerol plus trehalose. Trehalose added group showed higher percentages of sperm motility, stability of chromatin structure than glycerol only. In this study, we suggest that trehalose is effective in reducing freezing damage to miniature pig sperm and can reduce chromatin damage during cryopreservation.

• 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.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2012

Interferon regulatory factor 6 (IRF6) gene is a member of the IRF-family, and plays functionally diverse roles in the regulation of the immune system. In this report, the 13,720 bp porcine IRF6 genomic DNA structure was firstly identified with a putative IRF6 protein of 467 amino acids. Alignment and phylogenetic analysis of the porcine IRF6 amino acid sequences with their homologies to other species showed high identity (over 96%). Tissues expression of IRF6 mRNA was observed by RT-PCR, the results revealed IRF6 expressed widely in eight tissues. One SNP (HQ026023:1383 G>C) in exon7 and two SNPs (HQ026023:130 G>A; 232 C>T) in the 5′ promoter region of porcine IRF6 gene were demonstrated by DNA sequencing analysis. A further analysis of SNP genotypes associated with immune traits including IFN-${\gamma}$ and IL10 concentrations in serum was carried out in three pig populations including Large White, Landraces and Songliao Black pig (a Chinese indigenous breed). The results showed that the SNP (HQ026023:1383 G>C) was significantly associated with the level of IFN-${\gamma}$ (d 20) in serum (p = 0.038) and the ratio of IFN-${\gamma}$ to IL10 (d 20) in serum (p = 0.041); The other two SNPs (HQ026023:130 G>A; 232 C>T) were highly significantly associated with IL10 level in serum both at the day 20 (p = 0.005; p = 0.001) and the day 35 (p = 0.004; p = 0.006). Identification of the porcine IRF6 gene will help our further understanding of the molecular basis of the IFN regulation pathway in the porcine immune response. All these results should indicate that the IRF6 gene can be regarded as a molecular marker associated with the IL10 level in serum and used for genetic selection in the pig breeding.

• 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 Life Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.467-471
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• 2009

The entire D-loop region of the porcine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was amplified from six pig breeds (Landrace, Duroc, Large White, Korean native pig, Berkshire, and Hampshire) using a primer set designed on the basis of reported porcine mtDNA sequences. From analyses through cloning, DNA sequencing and multiple sequence alignment, an 11-bp (TAAAACACTTA) duplication was observed after known tandem repetition in the D-loop region, which promoted hetroplasmy in mtDNA. Although the existence of the 11-bp duplication has been previously reported in Duroc and Japanese native pigs, there have not been any attempts to know the characteristics of this duplication in other breeds so far. A 150 bp fragment containing the 11-duplication was amplified and typed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). All Large Whites had two duplication units and Duroc showed heteromorphic patterns, 11.2% (9/80) of the animals had the 11-bp duplication in total. On the other hand, Landrace, Berkshire, Hampshire and Korean native pigs were non-duplicated. This result showed that the 11-bp duplication could be used as a breed-specific DNA marker for distinguishing pure Landrace and Large White breeds.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.555-564
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• 2002

Twenty Landrace and twenty Min piglets, with an average initial body weight of 22.4 kg, were randomly divided into 5 groups with 4 animals per group, within each of the breeds. The piglets were housed in individual concrete pens. Each group of the piglets was fed one of 5 diets. The diets contained either 20% raw Argentine soybeans, 20% processed Argentine soybeans ($118^{\circ}C$ for 7.5 min.), 20% raw Chinese soybeans, 20% processed Chinese soybeans ($118^{\circ}C$ for 7.5 min.) or no soybean products (control diet). Faecal samples were collected on days 6, 7 and 8 of the treatment period. Digestibilities of dietary nutrients were determined with AIA (acid insoluble ash) as a marker. After a 17 day treatment, three piglets were killed from each of the groups. Tissue samples of small and large intestine for light and electron microscopy examination were taken immediately after the opening of abdomen. Then, the weight or size of relevant organs was measured. The results show that the digestibilities of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and fat were higher in Min piglets than in Landrace piglets (p<0.05). The diets containing processed soybeans had a significant higher CP digestibility than the control diet and the diets containing raw soybeans (p<0.05). Landrace piglets had heavier and longer small intestines, heavier kidneys and a lighter spleen than Min piglets (p<0.05). The pancreas of the animals fed the diets containing processed soybeans was heavier than that of the animals fed control diet (p<0.05) and the diets containing raw soybeans. But, the differences between raw and processed soybean diets were not significant. A significant interaction (p<0.05) between diet and pig breed was observed in weight of the small intestine. The Landrace piglets increased the weight in their small intestine when they were fed the diets containing soybeans. In the light micrographs and electron scanning micrographs, it was found that the villi of small intestinal epithelium of animals (especially Landrace piglets) fed the diets containing raw Chinese soybeans were seriously damaged. The transmission electron micrograph showed that a lot of vesicles were located between the small intestinal microvilli of these piglets. The histological examination also indicated that the proportion of goblet cells in villi and crypts in the piglets consuming the control diet was significantly lower (p<0.01 and p<0.02, respectively) than those of the animals consuming the diets containing raw or processed soybeans.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.943-952
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• 2023

Objective: For decades, LYD ([Landrace×Yorkshire] ♀×Duroc ♂) pigs are the most commonly-used commercial breed for meat production in Korea. Recently, due to the increasing demand for premium pork, the National Institute of Animal Science (Korea) has synthesized a novel pig breed named Woori Heukdon (WHD). This study aimed at comparing the carcass traits, meat yield and quality characteristics between the LYD and WHD pigs under identical rearing condition. Methods: The WHD and LYD pigs (n = 15 each) were reared under identical conditions and fed the same commercial diet until reaching recommended market weight (100 to 120 kg). After slaughter, the carcasses were evaluated for traits and meat yield, and the meat quality was assessed on shoulder butt and belly cuts. Results: Although no significant differences (p>0.05) occurred in slaughter weight between two pig types, WHD had a lower meat yield (by about 6 kg corresponding to approximately 7%) compared to the LYD pigs (p<0.05). The WHD had a higher fat content (by 4.26% and 13.52% in the shoulder butt and belly, respectively) compared to those of LYD pigs (p<0.05). The WHD meat showed a lower cooking loss and higher a* (redness) value (p<0.05). The WHD belly had a significantly (p<0.05) higher oleic acid content and concentrations of nonanal, octanal and decanal associated with fatty odor while, the LYD meat had a higher number of pyrazines associated with roasty odor. Regarding sensory quality, higher flavor, juiciness, and acceptability higher scores were given for the WHD meat than for the LYD meat (p<0.05). Conclusion: Under identical rearing conditions the WHD exhibited a better meat quality and sensory properties. However, the use of this diet resulted in a high fat level that may be associated with high trimming loss for the WHD.