Abstract
Simple SummaryThe reduction of biodiversity determines the loss of species and breeds, with the consequent disappearance of production systems, knowledge, cultures and local traditions. The Nero Lucano pig is a native breed of Southern Italy (Basilicata region) recovered, starting from 2001, because of the high quality of its cured meat products. This study gives a picture of the low genetic variability of this breed. Knowledge of individual inbreeding levels allows for planning of interventions to reduce the negative effects of the low effective population size and, then, improve the efficiency of the actual recovery project.The Nero Lucano (NL) pig is a black coat colored breed characterized by a remarkable ability to adapt to the difficult territory and climatic conditions of Basilicata region in Southern Italy. In the second half of the twentieth century, technological innovation, agricultural evolution, new breeding methods and the demand for increasingly lean meat brought the breed almost to extinction. Only in 2001, thanks to local institutions such as: the Basilicata Region, the University of Basilicata, the Regional Breeders Association and the Medio Basento mountain community, the NL pig returned to populate the area with the consequent possibility to appreciate again its specific cured meat products. We analyzed the pedigrees recorded by the breeders and the Illumina Porcine SNP60 BeadChip genotypes in order to obtain the genetic structure of the NL pig. Results evidenced that this population is characterized by long mean generation intervals (up to 3.5 yr), low effective population size (down to 7.2) and high mean inbreeding coefficients (FMOL = 0.53, FROH = 0.39). This picture highlights the low level of genetic variability and the critical issues to be faced for the complete recovery of this population.
Highlights
The Nero Lucano (NL) pig is reared in Basilicata and is characterized by a black coat with rough coarse hair-bristles, mean size, long head with straight nose profile, broughtforward ears of medium length, long and thin legs, lean muscles, thick backfat and low number of newborns per delivery.This breed is well adapted to the mountain habitat and climate conditions of Basilicata.Due to its rusticity, it is reared outdoors where occasional basic shelters can be found
80.4%) [25]; (ii) SNPs in Hardy–Weinberg disequilibrium were mainly due to excess of homozygotes; (iii) the inbreeding coefficients based on molecular data (FMOL ) were very high and comparable with those observed in some small, closed and endangered Spanish (Guadyerbas 0.80 and Torbiscal 0.74) and Chinese (Wuzhishan 0.44) populations [26,27,28]; and (iv) the overlapping of the FMOL curves in the two inbred generations could be the consequence of breeders activities to avoid an excessive increase of inbreeding
The coverage of the NL pig genome with runs of homozygosity (ROH) was about 38%, a very high value when compared with an average of 23% reported for cosmopolitan
Summary
The Nero Lucano (NL) pig is reared in Basilicata and is characterized by a black coat with rough coarse hair-bristles, mean size, long head with straight nose profile, broughtforward ears of medium length, long and thin legs, lean muscles, thick backfat and low number of newborns per delivery.This breed is well adapted to the mountain habitat and climate conditions of Basilicata.Due to its rusticity, it is reared outdoors where occasional basic shelters can be found. The Nero Lucano (NL) pig is reared in Basilicata and is characterized by a black coat with rough coarse hair-bristles, mean size, long head with straight nose profile, broughtforward ears of medium length, long and thin legs, lean muscles, thick backfat and low number of newborns per delivery. This breed is well adapted to the mountain habitat and climate conditions of Basilicata. The pig population consisted of native animals characterized by: black coat, remarkable rusticity and modest growth They had different denominations in relation to the area they belonged to. The representative morphological types were: the Appulo-Lucano, the Calabro-Lucano, the Cavallino and the Italico [3]
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