Abstract
Mora Romagnola is an autochthonous pig breed, raised in the north of Italy. Mono-breed pork products of this breed are part of important niche value chain that is intrinsically linked to the conservation of this local genetic resources that can only survive due to the premium price that these products can obtain on the market. However, the added value attracts fraudsters that unscrupulously sell mis-labelled Mora Romagnola products, causing consumer distrust that, in turn, undermines the conservation strategy of this breed. To monitor and better characterise this local breed, we phenotyped 826 Mora Romagnola pigs for three breed-specific traits. Then, we genotyped almost all living sows and boars registered to the Herd Book (n. = 357 animals) for polymorphisms in the MC1R and NR6A1 genes (affecting coat colour and vertebral number, respectively). The results were used to re-define the breed descriptors of the Mora Romagnala breed that included information on the allowed genotypes at these two genes. A few pigs that did not carry the allowed genotypes were excluded from its Herd Book. Finally, we evaluated the usefulness of these DNA markers to authenticate Mora Romagnola meat against meat derived from other 11 pig breeds and wild boars. To our knowledge, the Mora Romagnola Herd Book is one of the first examples that established a direct link between a genetic standard of a breed with the possibility to authenticate mono-breed products using DNA markers with the specific purpose to combat frauds and, indirectly, support the conservation of a livestock genetic resource.
Highlights
IntroductionA sustainable strategy for the conservation of animal genetic resources (i.e., autochthonous and usually less efficient breeds compared to cosmopolitan breeds/lines) is based on the marketing of “mono-breed” meat or dairy products, properly labelled for their breed of origin [1,2]
A sustainable strategy for the conservation of animal genetic resources is based on the marketing of “mono-breed” meat or dairy products, properly labelled for their breed of origin [1,2]
In this study we (i) monitored phenotypically the Mora Romagnola population to evaluate the compliance to the breed standard, (ii) characterised this breed population for polymorphisms in the MC1R and NR6A1 genes by genotyping almost all living sows and boars registered to the Herd Book, (iii) included information of these DNA markers in the
Summary
A sustainable strategy for the conservation of animal genetic resources (i.e., autochthonous and usually less efficient breeds compared to cosmopolitan breeds/lines) is based on the marketing of “mono-breed” meat or dairy products, properly labelled for their breed of origin [1,2]. This market added value attracts fraudsters that unscrupulously see an economic advantage by selling mis-labelled products to obtain an unjustified additional economic gain. This behaviour is considered one of the most critical problems for a sustainable development of mono-breed production chains, as it produces consumer distrust and undermines the commercial added value of many local and niche animal production chains. The development of methods that can authenticate mono-breed products is a key issue for a successful construction of a mono-breed value chain that is able to monitor and defend the integrity of its business model and, in turn, its conservation program [1,3]
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