Abstract

Meat quality is an important trait for pig-breeding programs aiming to meet consumers’ demands. Geneticists must improve meat quality based on their understanding of the underlying genetic mechanisms. Previous studies showed that most meat-quality indicators were low-to-moderate heritability traits; therefore, improving meat quality using conventional techniques remains a challenge. Here, we performed a genome-wide association study of meat-quality traits using the GeneSeek Porcine SNP50K BeadChip in 582 crossbred Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire) commercial pigs (249 males and 333 females). Meat conductivity, marbling score, moisture, meat color, pH, and intramuscular fat (IMF) content were investigated. The genome-wide association study was performed using both fixed and random model Circulating Probability Unification (FarmCPU) and a mixed linear model (MLM) with the rMVP software. The genomic heritability of the studied traits ranged from 0.13 ± 0.07 to 0.55 ± 0.08 for conductivity and meat color, respectively. Thirty-two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified for meat quality in the crossbred pigs using both FarmCPU and MLM. Among the detected SNPs, five, nine, seven, four, six, and five were significantly associated with conductivity, IMF, marbling score, meat color, moisture, and pH, respectively. Several candidate genes for meat quality were identified in the detected genomic regions. These findings will contribute to the ongoing improvement of meat quality, meeting consumer demands and improving the economic outlook for the swine industry.

Highlights

  • Meat quality, a comprehensive indicator that includes moisture, intramuscular fat (IMF), pH, meat color, water-holding capacity, marbling, and tenderness (Noidad et al, 2019), is among the most important traits in the swine industry

  • With the development of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) arrays, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) analyses have become important for improving meat quality in the swine industry

  • A previous study showed that several candidate genes, including MC4R, insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2), ADRB3, and ATP1A2, heavily affected meat quality (Lu et al, 2018; Mármol Sánchez et al, 2020)

Read more

Summary

Introduction

A comprehensive indicator that includes moisture, intramuscular fat (IMF), pH, meat color, water-holding capacity, marbling, and tenderness (Noidad et al, 2019), is among the most important traits in the swine industry. RN, RKAG3, RYR1, PHKG1, MC4R, and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) are the major genes reported to affect meat-quality traits (Milan et al, 2000; Barbut et al, 2008; Yu et al, 2008; Oczkowicz et al, 2013; Ma et al, 2014; Lu et al, 2018). As high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays become more accessible, GWASs are being widely used to identify candidate genes despite most meat-quality traits exhibiting lowto-moderate heritability (Hermesch et al, 2000; Suzuki et al, 2005). Further exploration of meat-quality-related genes remains necessary owing to the insufficient research on gene localization of meat-quality traits

Methods
Discussion
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.