Abstract
This study aimed to verify the polymorphisms in the porcine IL-6 gene and to elucidate its effects on litter size traits in Large White and Landrace sows. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the porcine IL-6 gene (g.91506415A>G, g.91507983A>G, g.91508173C>T, and g.91508716C>T) were genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. There was no polymorphism observed on the three SNPs (g.91506415A>G, g.91507983A>G, and g.91508716C>T) of the porcine IL-6 gene. The porcine IL-6 g.91508173C>T polymorphism was found to be segregating in Large White and Landrace sows. The porcine IL-6 g.91508173C>T polymorphism was significantly associated with the total number born (TNB) and the number of piglets weaned alive (NWA) traits in Large White sows (P<0.05). Moreover, the porcine IL-6 g.91508173C>T polymorphism was significantly associated with the TNB, number born alive (NBA), and NWA traits in Landrace sows (P<0.05). These results indicated that the porcine IL-6 g.91508173C>T polymorphism was associated with litter size traits. These findings confirmed the importance of the IL-6 gene as a candidate gene for litter size traits in pigs.
Highlights
Litter size traits are the most important traits for reproduction and have direct effects on the economic advantages in pig production (Martínez-Giner et al, 2013)
The results in this study showed a polymorphic site of the porcine Interleukin 6 (IL-6) g.91508173C>T locus was located in intron 3
The chi-square (χ2) test showed that the genotype distribution of the porcine IL-6 g.91508173C>T locus in Large White and Landrace sows were in agreement with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) specifications (P>0.05)
Summary
Litter size traits are the most important traits for reproduction and have direct effects on the economic advantages in pig production (Martínez-Giner et al, 2013). Embryo mortality during the pregnancy period is one of the main factors that directly affect litter size in pigs (Spötter and Distl, 2006). Several studies demonstrated that many cytokine genes play an important role in the embryo implantation process and associated with litter size traits in pigs (Lin et al, 2009; Yang et al, 2011; Kumchoo and Mekchay, 2015; Norseeda et al, 2021). The IL-6 protein is secreted by trophoblasts and endometrial stomal cells (Guzeloglu-Kayisli et al, 2009). The IL-6 gene is assumed that it is connected with embryo implantation (Yang et al, 2011)
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