ISSN 2375-0731
African Journal of Pig Farming ISSN 2375-0731 Vol. 5 (4), pp. 001-006, April, 2017. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Polymorphism and association of microsatellite SJ01 with birth weight and early growth traits in pigs
Y. J. Zhang1,2, G. C. Li1 and Y. L. Jiang1*
1Laboratory of Animal Molecular Genetics, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China.
2College of Life Science, Linyi Normal University, Linyi 276005, China.
Accepted 22 November, 2016
Abstract
Myostatin is a negative regulator of animal skeletal muscle development and SJ01 is a microsatellite locus flanking porcine myostatin gene. In the present study, the polymorphism of microsatellite SJ01 in three pig populations, that is, Duroc (n = 420), Yorkshire (n = 414) and Landrace (n = 119), were investigated, and its associations with birth weight and early growth traits were analyzed. The results indicated that genotype BB was predominant in Yorkshire pigs and allele B was predominant in both Yorkshire and Landrace pigs, whereas allele A was more prevalent in Duroc pigs. Among the three pig breeds, Duroc population had the highest heterozygosity and deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P < 0.05). The average daily gain from 28 d to 70 d in Yorkshire pigs and the body weight at 70 d in Landrace pigs were significantly different between SJ01 genotypes (P < 0.05). These results suggest that microsatellite SJ01 is a potential DNA marker for early growth trait selection in Yorkshire and Landrace pigs as well as for refining QTL for early growth traits on SSC15.
Key words: Pig, myostatin, microsatellite SJ01, polymorphism, early growth traits.