A genome-wide association study on growth traits of Korean commercial pig breeds using Bayesian methods.

Abstract

This study aims to identify the significant regions and candidate genes of growth-related traits (adjusted backfat thickness; ABF, average daily gain; ADG, and days to 90 kg body weight; DAYS90) in Korean commercial GGP pig (Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire) populations. Methods: A genome-wide association study was performed using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for imputation to Illumina PorcineSNP60. The BayesB method was applied to calculate thresholds for the significance of SNP markers. The identified windows were considered significant if they explained ≥ 1% genetic variance. A total of 28 window regions were related to genetic growth effects. Bayesian GWAS revealed 28 significant genetic regions including 52 informative SNPs associated with growth traits (ABF, ADG, DAYS90) in Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire pigs, with genetic variance ranging from 1.00% to 5.46%. Additionally, 14 candidate genes with previous functional validation were identified for these traits. The results enhance our understanding of genetic architecture and our potential to genetically improve pigs. SNPs within the identified regions could prove valuable for future marker-assisted or genomic selection in pig breeding programs.