Abstract
Pigs (Sus scrofa) have vast economic importance, with pork accounting for over 30% of the global meat consumption. Chromosomal abnormalities, and in particular reciprocal translocations (RTs), are an important cause of hypoprolificacy (litter size reduction) in pigs. However, these do not necessarily present with a recognizable phenotype and may cause significant economic losses for breeders when undetected. Here, we present a reappraisal of the incidence of RTs across several European pig herds, using contemporary methodology, as well as an analysis modelling the economic impact of these abnormalities. Molecular cytogenetic investigation was completed by karyotyping and/or multiprobe FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridisation) between 2016–2021, testing 2673 animals. We identified 19 types of chromosome abnormalities, the prevalence of these errors in the database was 9.1%, and the estimated incidence of de novo errors was 0.90%. Financial modelling across different scenarios revealed the potential economic impact of an undetected RT, ranging from £69,802 for an individual affected terminal boar in a commercial farm selling weaned pigs, to £51,215,378 for a genetics company with an undetected RT in a dam line boar used in a nucleus farm. Moreover, the added benefits of screening by FISH instead of karyotyping were estimated, providing a strong case for proactive screening by this approach.
Highlights
The domestic pig (Sus scrofa) provides 30–40% of the meat consumed worldwide, making it the leading source of meat protein globally
A potential solution is a novel device established by our group as discussed in O’Connor and colleagues [15], where we reported the development of a new screening protocol using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) based on multiple hybridization of sub-telomeric probes [7,15]
We identified 19 types of chromosomal errors, of which 17 were reciprocal translocations (RTs), as presented in DNA 2021, 1, FOR PEER REVIEW
Summary
The domestic pig (Sus scrofa) provides 30–40% of the meat consumed worldwide, making it the leading source of meat protein globally. Its annual production is projected to increase over the ten years, in line with an increase in world population [1]. One of the tools at their disposal is artificial insemination (AI), a technique allowing the distribution of the most promising male genetics across distance (by shipping) and time (extended semen) [2]. Fertility in boars awaiting AI service is routinely estimated by semen analysis [3], which may include computer-assisted methods [4]. The ability of these methods to detect non-extreme variation in fertility is limited [5]. Farrowing rates and litter size are commonly examined following
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