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The results of studies of the genetic structure of the Central European wild boar (Sus scrofa scrofa) population and four breeds of domestic pigs (Duroc, Yorkshire, Large White and Landrace) bred in the Central Black Earth region of Russia are presented in this work. Based on 12 microsatellite loci, a significant ( p0.05) decrease in the level of genetic variability in bred breeds was shown. The expected heterozygosity and Shannon index were as follows: in the wild boar, Ho = 0.763 ± 0.026, I = 1.717 ± 0.091; in the Duroc breed, Ho = 0.569 ± 0.068, I = 1.191 ± 0.157; in the Landrace, Ho = 0.618 ± 0.062, I = 1.201 ± 0.147; in the Large White, Ho = 0.680 ± 0.029, I = 1.362 ± 0.074; and in the Yorkshire, Ho = 0.642 ± 0.065, I = 1.287 ± 0.156. The results of checking genotypic Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium based on the G-test of maximum likelihood demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of loci in the wild boar population were in the state of said equilibrium. By contrast, in pig breed populations, some loci demonstrated a significant deviation from the indicated equilibrium. In addition, the Yorkshire, Large White, and Landrace populations had loci, for which the hypothesis of neutrality was reliably rejected based on the results of the Ewens-Watterson test. The revealed private alleles, characteristic of the wild boar and breeds, can later be used to identify them. The ordination of the centroids of different herds in the space of the first two principal coordinates based on the matrix of pairwise estimates of Nei's genetic distances showed that the most distant populations are the Duroc and Boar breeds, and the most genetically close are the Yorkshire and Landrace breeds. The closest to the wild boar population was the Large White breed. The assessment of the effective size, carried out using the method based on the linkage disequilibrium and the molecular coancestry method, showed that in all studied groups, including the wild boar population, the effective size was less than 100 individuals. The low effective size of the wild boar population (Ne = 21.8, Neb = 4.0) is probably caused by the death and shooting of animals due to Pestis africana suum.В работе приведены результаты исследований генетической структуры популяции централь- ноевропейского кабана (Sus scrofa scrofa) и четырех пород домашних свиней (дюрок, йоркшир, крупная бе- лая и ландрас), разводимых в Центрально-Черноземном регионе России. На основе 12 микросателлитных локусов установлено достоверное (р0.05) снижение генетической изменчивости в разводимых породах. Ожидаемая гетерозиготность и индекс Шеннона были равными: у кабана – Ho = 0.763 ± 0.026, I = 1.717 ± 0.091; у пород дюрок – Ho = 0.569 ± 0.068, I = 1.191 ± 0.157; ландрас – Ho = 0.618 ± 0.062, I = 1.201 ± 0.147; крупная бе- лая – Ho = 0.680 ± 0.029, I = 1.362 ± 0.074; йоркшир – Ho = 0.642 ± 0.065, I = 1.287 ± 0.156. Результаты проверки генотипического равновесия Харди–Вайнберга на основе G-теста максимального правдоподобия показали, что в популяции кабана большинство локусов находилось в состоянии генотипического равновесия Хар- ди–Вайнберга. Напротив, в популяциях различных пород свиней часть локусов демонстрирует достовер- ное отклонение от отмеченного равновесия. Кроме того, в популяциях йоркшир, крупная белая и ландрас присутствовали локусы, для которых достоверно отвергалась гипотеза о нейтральности на основании ре- зультатов теста Эвенса–Ваттерсона (Ewens–Watterson test). Обнаруженные приватные аллели, характерные для кабана и различных пород, в дальнейшем могут быть использованы для их идентификации. Ординация центроидов разных стад в пространстве первых двух главных координат на основании матрицы попарных оценок генетических дистанций М. Nei показала, что наиболее удаленные популяции – породы дюрок и кабан, а самые генетически близкие – йоркшир и ландрас. Ближе всех к популяции кабана была порода крупная белая. Оценка эффективной численности, проведенная с использованием метода, основанного на неравновесии по сцеплению (linkage disequilibrium) и MC-метода (the molecular coancestry method), проде- монстрировала, что во всех изученных группах, включая и популяцию кабана, эффективный размер оказался меньше 100 особей. Низкое значение эффективного размера популяции кабана (Ne = 21.8, Neb = 4.0), вероят- но, является следствием падежа и отстрела животных из-за африканской чумы свиней (Pestis africana suum).

Non-intrusive and automated detection of pig breeds, particularly from visual standpoint, is important from a food quality tracking perspective. In this work, colour as well as texture based visual descriptors from muzzle images have been identified, which, serve as breed-identifiers to separate four common pig-breeds: Duroc, Ghungroo, Hampshire and Yorkshire. While these handcrafted visual descriptors by themselves are fairly robust and discriminative, it is recognized that by controlling the decision space by choosing the feature-type based on colour or texture or both and the order in which particular breeds are siphoned, classification accuracy can be improved considerably. In that light, a stable, relatively data-independent, breed-specific, hierarchical tree synthesis and feature selection procedure is proposed based on a breed-pair cluster separation table. The proposed approach has been compared with the state of the art Phylogenetic distance based Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering algorithm (AGNES) and also with the standard decision tree classification algorithm. On cross-validation, When completely different sets of pigs were used for training and testing (50-50 split), the proposed algorithm reported relatively high mean classification accuracies of 86.45% for Duroc, 93.02% for Ghungroo, 86.91% for Hampshire and 98.54% for Yorkshire, respectively.

One of the main tasks of genetics and animal breeding is the assessment of genetic diversity and the study of genetic relationships between different breeds and populations using molecular genetic analysis methods. We analysed the polymorphism of microsatellites and the information on the state of genetic diversity and the population structure of local breeds in Russia: the Kemerovo, the Berkshire, the Liven, the Mangalitsa, and the Civilian; in the Republic of Belarus: the Large White and the Black-and-White; and in Ukraine: the White Steppe, as well as commercial breeds of imported origin of domestic reproduction: the Large White, the Landrace, and the Duroc. The materials used for this study were the tissue and DNA samples extracted from 1,194 pigs and DNA of the UNU “Genetic material bank of domestic and wild animal species and birds” of the L.K. Ernst Federal Research Center for Animal Husbandry. Polymorphisms of 10 microsatellites (S0155, S0355, S0386, SW24, SO005, SW72, SW951, S0101, SW240, and SW857) were determined according to the previously developed technique using DNA analyser ABI3130xl. To estimate the allele pool of each population, the average number of alleles (NA), the effective number of alleles (NE ) based on the locus, the rarified allelic richness (AR), the observed (HO ) and expected (HE ) heterozygosity, and the fixation index (FIS) were calculated. The degree of genetic differentiation of the breeds was assessed based on the pairwise values of FST and D. The analysis of the allelic and genetic diversity parameters of the local breeds showed that the maximum and minimum levels of polymorphism were observed in pigs of the Ukrainian White Steppe breed (NA = 6.500, NE = 3.709, and AR = 6.020) and in pigs of the Duroc breed (NA = 4.875, NE = 2.119, and AR = 3.821), respectively. The highest level of genetic diversity was found in the Large White breed of the Republic of Belarus (HO = 0.707 and NE = 0.702). The minimum level of genetic diversity was found in pigs of the imported breeds – the Landrace (HO = 0.459, HE = 0.400) and the Duroc (HO = 0.480, HE = 0.469) – indicating a high selection pressure in these breeds. Based on the results of phylogenetic analysis, the genetic origin of Large White pigs, the breeds, from which the Berkshire pigs originated, and the genetic detachment of the Landrace from the Mangalitsa breeds were revealed. The cluster analysis showed a genetic consolidation of the Black-and-White, the Berkshire, and the Mangalitsa pigs. Additionally, the imported breeds with clustering depending on the origin were characterised by a genetic structure different from that of the other breeds. The information obtained from these studies can serve as a guide for the management and breeding strategies of the pig breeds studied, to allow their better use and conservation.

Food authentication in local breeds has important implications from both an economic and a qualitative point of view. Meat products from autochthonous breeds are of premium value, but can easily incur fraudulent or accidental substitution or mislabeling. The aim of this study was to identify a small number of SNPs using the Illumina PorcineSNP60 BeadChip for breed traceability, in particular of the Italian Nero Siciliano pig and its derived products. A panel of 12 SNPs was sufficient to discriminate Nero Siciliano pig from cosmopolitan breeds and wild boars. After adding 8 SNPs, the final panel of 20 SNPs allowed us to discriminate all the breeds involved in the study, to correctly assign each individual to its breed, and, moreover, to discriminate Nero Siciliano from first-generation hybrids. Almost all livestock breeds are being genotyped with medium- or high-density SNP panels, providing a large amount of information for many applications. Here, we proposed a method to select a reduced SNP panel to be used for the traceability of pig breeds.

The article is devoted to the study systematization of the directions of state support for pig production in the countries with intensive pig production which includes the following tools: subsidies, interest rate subsidies; research funding; insurance, preferential lending; compensation for material and production costs; price regulation; government interventions. It is established that state regulation in pigs breeding in the leading countries of the world is focused on ensuring intensive development of the industry, ensuring the animals productivity, as well as strict adherence to environmental requirements. World's leading producers tend to obtain lean pork due to consumer preferences which has led to a change in approaches in the entire production chain organization, from the revision of vectors of pigs breeding and feeding to technological innovations in the field of the processing, transportation and distribution. It was found out that the increase in pig production in the leading countries of the world is provided through the advances in animal breeding and genetics. Breeding programs of the world's leading countries are characterized by a tendency to consolidate breeding material in the global market of genetic resources, where pork production is innovative and integrated. Several multinational genetic companies dominate in the supply chain. Effective use of modern methods of animal reproduction makes it possible to store genetic material long-term and transport it to any place in the world, which enables to increase the sales of breeding products and inter-firm exchange of frozen sperm and embryos. The market of genetic resources is characterized by intensive trade and intensification of international competition between national breeding companies as well as the transition from national and regional breeding programs to the purchasing breeding material from multinational companies. Analysis of world experience in breeding programs and state support for pig breeding shows that the use of modern information technology and the development of information analytical support of breeding work with tribal recording as an important element can be the basic factors in accelerating the breeding process and increasing the efficiency of pig breeding in Ukraine. Key words: pork production, world export and import of pork, pork production organizing, pig breeding, pig breeds, pig breeding world associations, state support.

The diversity of livestock coat color results from human positive selection and represents an indispensable part of breed identity. As an important biodiversity resource, pigs have many special characteristics, including the most visualized feature, coat color, and excellent adaptation, and the coat color represents an important phenotypic characteristic of the pig breed. Exploring the genetic mechanisms of phenotypic characteristics and the melanocortin system is of considerable interest in domestic animals because their energy metabolism and pigmentation have been under strong selection. In this study, 20 genes related to coat color in mammals were selected, and the structural variations (SVs) in these genic regions were identified by sequence alignment across 17 assembled pig genomes, from representing different types of pigs (miniature, lean, and fat type). A total of 167 large structural variations (>50 bp) of coat-color genes, which overlap with retrotransposon insertions (>50 bp), were obtained and designated as putative RIPs. Finally, 42 RIPs were confirmed by PCR detection. Additionally, eleven RIP sites were further evaluated for their genotypic distributions by PCR in more individuals of eleven domesticated breeds representing different coat color groups. Differential distributions of these RIPs were observed across populations, and some RIPs may be associated with breed differences.

Simple Summary A few highly selected commercial pig breeds have been developed and many different local breeds have been replaced by these modern breeds. With the aim to preserve rare local breeds, the necessity has arisen to find and create the conditions under which local breeds could be more widely used. Therefore, the performance and production qualities of local breeds should be evaluated and highlighted. As the quality of pig production is associated with breeds and effects of other different conditions, the objective of this experiment was to investigate the effects of breed, gender, and feeding level in the finishing phase on the carcass and meat quality of Lithuanian White and Lithuanian Indigenous Wattle pigs reared indoors. Feed restriction during the finishing phase and gender both affected the growth and fatness of pigs. The breed and gender appeared to have an effect on the parameters of meat quality including fatty acid composition. The breed and gender effects on fatty acid composition showed more favorable lipid indices in relation to healthy nutrition in the ham muscles of Lithuanian White pigs compared with Lithuanian Indigenous Wattle pigs and also in the ham muscle and backfat of females compared with castrated males. Abstract The diversity of breeds is an important factor influencing carcass and meat quality traits that are also associated with other different effects. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of breed, gender, and feeding level in the finishing phase on the carcass and meat quality of Lithuanian White and Lithuanian Indigenous Wattle pigs reared indoors. After 60 kg weight, half of the animals from both breeds were fed a restricted diet of approximately 82% of average ad libitum feeding intake, and the other half of pigs were further fed ad libitum to the end of the experiment. Feed restriction during the finishing phase decreased daily gain and weight of pigs at slaughter, and backfat thickness at the tenth rib (p ˂ 0.001, p ˂ 0.01, and p ˂ 0.05, respectively). Lithuanian White pigs demonstrated higher (p ˂ 0.001) growth rate, live body weight at slaughter and carcass weight, and had a higher (p ˂ 0.01) length of carcass and loin area and lower (p ˂ 0.05) backfat thickness at the last rib and at two points at the lumbar area compared with Lithuanian Indigenous Wattle pigs. The semimembranosus muscle of Lithuanian White pigs had relatively (8.1%) lower (p ˂ 0.001) proportions of saturated and 41.2% higher (p ˂ 0.001) proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids compared with the pigs of the Lithuanian Indigenous Wattle breed, whereas in the longissimus muscle and subcutaneous tissue, the breed only affected the n-6/n-3 ratio (p ˂ 0.01 and p ˂ 0.001, respectively). Gender showed an effect on saturated fatty acids in all the studied tissues, however, the effects on polyunsaturated fatty acids were found in the semimembranosus muscle and subcutaneous tissue (p ˂ 0.05 and p ˂ 0.001) and the effects on monounsaturated fatty acids was found only in the semimembranosus muscle (p ˂ 0.01). These differences in the fatty acid composition of the semimembranosus muscle and subcutaneous tissue of females exhibited more favorable lipid quality indices compared with castrated males (p ˂ 0.001). The semimembranosus muscle of Lithuanian White pigs also showed more favorable lipid quality indices in relation to healthy nutrition compared with Lithuanian Indigenous Wattle pigs (p ˂ 0.001). This study is one of the steps toward the development and utilization of endangered breeds. The obtained information can be used to increase choice in pork production and consumption, and provides new insights for research into the conservation of local breeds.

Mitochondrial DNA has been widely used to perform phylogenetic studies in different animal species. In pigs, genetic variability at the cytochrome B gene and the D-loop region has been used as a tool to dissect the genetic relationships between different breeds and populations. In this work, we analysed four SNP at the cytochrome B gene to infer the Asian (A1 and A2 haplotypes) or European (E1 and E2 haplotypes) origins of several European standard and local pig breeds. We found a mixture of Asian and European haplotypes in the Canarian Black pig (E1, A1 and A2), German Piétrain (E1, A1 and A2), Belgian Piétrain (E1, A1), Large White (E1 and A1) and Landrace (E1 and A1) breeds. In contrast, the Iberian (Guadyerbas, Ervideira, Caldeira, Campanario, Puebla and Torbiscal strains) and the Majorcan Black pig breeds only displayed the E1 haplotype. Our results show that the introgression of Chinese pig breeds affected most of the major European standard breeds, which harbour Asian haplotypes at diverse frequencies (15-56%). In contrast, isolated local Spanish breeds, such as the Iberian and Majorcan Black pig, only display European cytochrome B haplotypes, a feature that evidences that they were not crossed with other Chinese or European commercial populations. These findings illustrate how geographical confinement spared several local Spanish breeds from the extensive introgression event that took place during the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe.

Background Oligosaccharides (OS) are indigestible carbohydrates naturally found in milk. The composition of porcine colostrum OS may influence the growth and the health of the neonate and consuming optimal concentrations of OS may reduce piglet susceptibility to illness. In this manner, targeted supplementation of animal feed with OS is being explored as a health management tool in the livestock industry. The variation in OS composition between different breeds of pig and its association with the litter performance is currently unknown. The aim of this study was to characterize the colostrum OS composition from sows of different breed and parity and correlate this data with sow maternal traits. Methods Eighty-three colostrum samples from parities 1 to 8 were gathered from 3 different breeds of sow: 44 Large White sows, 27 Landrace sows and 12 Duroc sows. Samples were taken between the birth of the first and the last piglet from sows that were not pharmacologically induced to farrow. OS were purified from the samples and analysed by MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry (21 OS compositions detected). The farrowing season and the maternal data were recorded for each sow, including the number of live piglets and the litter body weight at birth, at day (d) 3 and at weaning. Results Five OS compositions, including isomers of the bifidogenic Sialyllactose, Lacto-N-Tetraose and Lacto-N-Hexaose series, were detected in all the samples. Twelve other OS were identified in at least 50% of samples, and their abundances were affected by breed (P P P = 0.063) and at weaning (P Conclusions OS composition of colostrum may partially explain the variability in maternal performance within and between different breeds of sow. The obtained OS data can provide useful information for the development of novel prebiotic food supplements for suckling and weaning pigs.

В статье проводится сравнение откормочных и мясных качеств молодняка свиней отечественной и импортной селекции. The article compares the fattening and meat qualities of young pigs of domestic and import selection.

Результатами исследований было установлено, что лучшими откормочными качествами обладают свиньи специализированных мясных генотипов, а также их помеси.

Успешное производство свинины во многом зависит от организации племенной работы направленной на повышение продуктивных качеств помесных свиноматок F1, используемых в системе гибридизации, а также от внедрения в практику достижений в области генетики и селекции. Successful production largely depends on the organization of breeding work aimed at increasing the productivity of high-quality F1 cross-breeding sows, as well as the implementation of achievements in the field of genetics and selection.

Simple Summary Different breeds of pigs vary greatly in their propensity for adiposity. The gut microbiome plays a crucial role in shaping host physiological responses. However, it remains unclear how the gut microbiota influences host growth, in particular adipogenesis. This study aimed to compare microbial profiles in the colons of two pig breeds. Abstract Sixteen 35-day-old piglets, including eight Large White (LW) piglets (a lean-type pig breed) and eight Ningxiang (NX) piglets (a fatty-type Chinese Indigenous pig breed), were fed the same diet for 105 days. NX pigs had higher intramuscular fat content than LW pigs (p < 0.05). According to 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the relative abundances of the genera Ruminococcaceae_NK4A214_group, Parabacteroides, Christensenellaaceae_R-7_group and Ruminiclostridium were higher, whereas the abundances of Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group, Prevotella, Subdoligranulum and Faecalibacterium were lower, in the colon of NX pigs compared to that of LW pigs. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that the microbiota of the two pig breeds clustered separately along the principal coordinate axis. Furthermore, functional prediction of the bacterial communities suggested higher fatty acid biosynthesis in NX pigs. NX pigs also exhibited lower concentrations of total short-chain fatty acids, propionate and butyrate in the colon (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that NX pigs exhibited higher intramuscular fat content and backfat thickness than LW pigs. The bacterial communities in the colon of NX pigs were also more diverse than those in the colon of LW pigs, which might be used as a potential metabolomics mechanism to research different breeds of pigs.

Background Colostrum is the first secretion produced by mammary glands during the hours immediately preceding and succeeding parturition. This secretion differs from milk and represents an essential vehicle of passive immunity, prebiotic compounds and growth factors involved in intestinal development. Most of the literature concerning colostrum composition refers mainly to human and cow; and little is known about pig colostrum metabolome and how it varies between pig breeds and different farrowing parity. Thus, the aim of the present research is to provide new information about pig colostrum composition and the associations between metabolites, the sows’ breed and the survival and growth rates of their litters. Results Colostrum samples were gathered from 58 parturitions of sows belonging to three different breeds chosen for their importance in Italian heavy pig production: 31 Large White, 15 Landrace and 12 Duroc respectively. The defatted and ultrafiltered colostrum samples were analysed using 1H–NMR spectroscopy. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was assessed on the obtained spectra. In addition, using a Stepwise Regression and a Linear Regression analyses the metabolites named after the signals assignment were tested for their associations with piglets’ performances. Twenty-five metabolites were identified, comprehending monosaccharides, disaccharides (such as lactose), organic acids (lactate, citrate, acetate and formate), nitrogenous organic acids (such as creatine) and other compounds, including nucleotides. PCA results evidence a clustering due to breed and season effects. Lactose was the main compound determining the assignment of the samples into different clusters according to the sow breed. Furthermore, some metabolites showed to be associated with piglets’ performance and survival traits: acetate and taurine were positively related to litter weight gain and piglets’ survival rate, respectively, while dimethylamine and cis-aconitate were linked to new-borns’ impaired ability to survive. Conclusions The results obtained suggest that colostrum composition is affected by breed, which, together with environmental conditions, may cause changes in colostrum metabolites content with possible consequences on piglets’ performances. Among the identified metabolites, acetate, taurine, dimethylamine and cis-aconitate showed consistent associations with piglets’ survival rate and litter weight gain, implying that these compounds may affect new-borns’ ability to survive. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40104-018-0237-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The aim of this work was to analyse the distribution of causal and candidate mutations associated to relevant productive traits in twenty local European pig breeds. Also, the potential of the SNP panel employed for elucidating the genetic structure and relationships among breeds was evaluated. Most relevant genes and mutations associated with pig morphological, productive, meat quality, reproductive and disease resistance traits were prioritized and analyzed in a maximum of 47 blood samples from each of the breeds (Alentejana, Apulo- Calabrese, Basque, Bísara, Majorcan Black, Black Slavonian (Crna slavonska), Casertana, Cinta Senese, Gascon, Iberian, Krškopolje (Krškopoljski), Lithuanian indigenous wattle, Lithuanian White Old Type, Mora Romagnola, Moravka, Nero Siciliano, Sarda, Schwäbisch-Hällisches Schwein (Swabian Hall pig), Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa and Turopolje). We successfully analyzed allelic variation in 39 polymorphisms, located in 33 candidate genes. Results provide relevant information regarding genetic diversity and segregation of SNPs associated to production and quality traits. Coat color and morphological trait-genes that show low level of segregation, and fixed SNPs may be useful for traceability. On the other hand, we detected SNPs which may be useful for association studies as well as breeding programs. For instance, we observed predominance of alleles that might be unfavorable for disease resistance and boar taint in most breeds and segregation of many alleles involved in meat quality, fatness and growth traits. Overall, these findings provide a detailed catalogue of segregating candidate SNPs in 20 European local pig breeds that may be useful for traceability purposes, for association studies and for breeding schemes. Population genetic analyses based on these candidate genes are able to uncover some clues regarding the hidden genetic substructure of these populations, as the extreme genetic closeness between Iberian and Alentejana breeds and an uneven admixture of the breeds studied. The results are in agreement with available knowledge regarding breed history and management, although largest panels of neutral markers should be employed to get a deeper understanding of the population’s structure and relationships.

This is a brief summary of papers, by the principal author and various collaborators, concerning meat quality of Black Slavonian (BS) pigs maintained either on free range or housed, fed on high- or low protein diet, slaughtered at different body weights, and compared with Swedish Landrace. Physical-chemical and sensory evaluation of meat from the BS pigs, mostly significantly superior to the controls, provided encouraging results for marketing BS- branded pig meat on both the domestic and the export markets.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms in 4 different genes: growth hormone (GH), leptin (LEP), growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) and myogenic factor 5 (MYF5) on fattening and carcass traits in pigs. The polymorphisms of the porcine genes and their relationships with performance traits were analysed in 143 unrelated pigs, belonging to 5 different breeds (Lithuanian White, old-type Lithuanian White, Large White, Landrace and Yorkshire) and 3 groups of crossbreeds (Large White × Landrace, Yorkshire × Large White, Yorkshire × Pietrain). It was found, that MYF5 polymorphism (Y17154.1: g2200G>C) influenced fattening traits with the highest daily weight gain stated in CC genotype. The most preferable LEP polymorphism (TaqI) (U66254.1: g.1112G>A) was AG genotype with lower age to achieve 100 kg of body weight and average backfat thickness, and higher meatness and weight of ham. It was found that pigs with TT genotype in LEP polymorphism (HinfI) (U66254.1: g.3469T>C) had better carcass properties in comparison to other genotypes. These pigs had also the highest meatness and the lowest average backfat thickness. The preferable GHRH polymorphism (JX435113.1: g.405A>C) genotype was CC with the highest daily weight gain. The most desirable TT genotype of LEP polymorphism (HinfI) (U66254.1: g.3469T>C) was found with the highest frequency in Landrace breed. The highest frequency of the most desirable CC genotype of GHRH gene was found in Yorkshire pig breed. So, from all examined genes LEP and GHRH genes polymorphisms seem to be the most preferable biomarkers of pig selection process.

Šunka je trajni suhomesnati proizvod koji se proizvodi od obrađenog svinjskog buta (ponekad i lopatice; npr. španjolska šunka (Jamón de Huelva) soljenjem ili salamurenjem, sušenjem (sa ili bez dimljenja) te dugotrajnim zrenjem. Kvaliteta šunke (pršuta) ovisi o brojnim čimbenicima kao što su genotip svinja, spol i tehnologija tova svinja, odnos mišićnog i masnog tkiva u butu, što sve zajedno, uz tehnologiju prerade, rezultira šunkama različitih fizikalno-kemijskih i senzorskih svojstava. Pasmine svinja čije se meso koristi u proizvodnji šunki (pršuta) imaju različita pasminska svojstva, ali zajedničko im je da moraju ispuniti određene zahtjeve: da nisu sklone stresu, izražena mramoriranost mesa i postizanje veće tjelesne mase s ciljem dobivanja butova većeg volumena i mase. Ham is a permanent cured product that is made from processed ham (sometimes with blade; for example Spanish ham (Jamón de Huelva) by salting and brining, drying (with or without smoking) and long lasting ripening. The quality of ham depends on many factors such as genetic bases, sex and technology of fattening pigs, the relationship between muscle and fat tissue in the ham, which all together with the technology of processing result with hams with different physico-chemical and organoleptic properties. Pig breeds which meat is used for hams production have different breed characteristics, but they are jointly required to meet certain requirements: not prone to stress, expressed meat marbling and achieve grater body mass with the aim of getting hams with larger volume and mass.

This study was conducted to compare the microbiome and metabolome differences inbacteria and bacterial metabolites in the colon lumen from two pig breeds with different genetic backgrounds, via microbiome and metabolome techniques. Fourteen weaned piglets at 30 days of age, including 7 Landrace piglets (a lean-type pig breed with a fast growth rate) and 7 Meihua piglets (a fatty-type Chinese local pig breed with a slow growth rate), were fed the same diets for 35 days. Untargeted metabolomics analyses showed that a total of 401 metabolites differed between Landrace and Meihua. Seventy of these 401 metabolites were conclusively identified. Landrace accumulated more short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and secondary bile acids in the colon lumen. Moreover, expression of the SCFAs transporter (solute carrier family 5 member 8, SLC5A8) and receptor (G protein-coupled receptor 41, GPR41) in the colon mucosa was higher, while the bile acids receptor (farnesoid X receptor, FXR) had lower expression in Landrace compared to Meihua. The relative abundances of 8 genera and 16 species of bacteria differed significantly between Landrace and Meihua, and were closely related to the colonic concentrations of bile acids or SCFAs based on Pearson’s correlation analysis. Collectively, our results demonstrate for the first time that there were distinct differences in the colonic microbiome and metabolome between Meihua and Landrace piglets, with the most profound disparity in production of SCFAs and secondary bile acids.

Background Knowledge on the levels of linkage disequilibrium (LD) across the genome, persistence of gametic phase between breed pairs, genetic diversity and population structure are important parameters for the successful implementation of genomic selection. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate these parameters in order to assess the feasibility of a multi-herd and multi-breed training population for genomic selection in important purebred and crossbred pig populations in Canada. A total of 3,057 animals, representative of the national populations, were genotyped with the Illumina Porcine SNP60 BeadChip (62,163 markers). Results The overall LD (r 2) between adjacent SNPs was 0.49, 0.38, 0.40 and 0.31 for Duroc, Landrace, Yorkshire and Crossbred (Landrace x Yorkshire) populations, respectively. The highest correlation of phase (r) across breeds was observed between Crossbred animals and either Landrace or Yorkshire breeds, in which r was approximately 0.80 at 1 Mbp of distance. Landrace and Yorkshire breeds presented r ≥ 0.80 in distances up to 0.1 Mbp, while Duroc breed showed r ≥ 0.80 for distances up to 0.03 Mbp with all other populations. The persistence of phase across herds were strong for all breeds, with r ≥ 0.80 up to 1.81 Mbp for Yorkshire, 1.20 Mbp for Duroc, and 0.70 Mbp for Landrace. The first two principal components clearly discriminate all the breeds. Similar levels of genetic diversity were observed among all breed groups. The current effective population size was equal to 75 for Duroc and 92 for both Landrace and Yorkshire. Conclusions An overview of population structure, LD decay, demographic history and inbreeding of important pig breeds in Canada was presented. The rate of LD decay for the three Canadian pig breeds indicates that genomic selection can be successfully implemented within breeds with the current 60 K SNP panel. The use of a multi-breed training population involving Landrace and Yorkshire to estimate the genomic breeding values of crossbred animals (Landrace × Yorkshire) should be further evaluated. The lower correlation of phase at short distances between Duroc and the other breeds indicates that a denser panel may be required for the use of a multi-breed training population including Duroc. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12863-017-0473-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background The present study was conducted to compare the differences in gut microbiota composition and gut-phenotypes among pig breeds, and determine whether these differences would transmit to mice colonized with fecal microbiota of different pig breeds. A total of 24 1-day-old germ-free BALB/C mice were divided into 3 groups (TFM, YFM and RFM), which were transplanted with intact fecal microbiota of Tibetan pig (TP), Yorkshire pig (YP) and Rongchang pig (RP), respectively. Results Results showed that different pig breeds exhibited distinct gut microbiota profile based on high-throughput pyrosequencing. YP exhibited a lower Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and apparent genera differences compared with RP and TP, and higher levels of bacteria from Spirochaetes were observed in TP compared with RP and YP (P

Pigs may need to be exploited as xenotransplantation donors due to the shortage of human organs, tissues and cells. Porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) are a significant obstacle to xenotransplantation because they can infect human cells in vitro and have the potential for transmission of unexpected pathogens to humans. In this research. 101 pigs, including four commercial breeds (23 Berkshire, 13 Duroc, 22 Landrace and 14 Yorkshire pigs), one native breed (19 Korean native pigs) and one miniature breed (10 NIH miniature pigs) were used to investigate insertional variations for 11 PERV loci (three PERV-A, six PERV-B and two PERV-C). Over 60% of the pigs harbored one PERV-A (907F8) integration and five PERV-B (B3-3G, B3-7G, 742H1, 1155D9 and 465D1) integrations. However, two PERV-A loci (A1-6C and 1347C1) and one PERV-B locus (B3-7F) were absent in Duroc pigs. Moreover, two PERV-C loci (C2-6C and C4-2G) only existed in Korean native pigs and NIH miniature pigs. The results suggest that PERV insertional variations differ among pig breeds as well as among individuals within a breed. Also, the results presented here can be used for the selection of animals that do not have specific PERV integration for xenotransplantation research.

A large number of studies have confirmed that variants within the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene are associated with higher obesity risk in humans. We and others have shown that FTO polymorphisms are associated with fat deposition and related traits in several pig populations, thus confirming the role of this gene in fatness across species. However, some differences observed in different pig populations may be derived, at least in part, from genetic heterogeneity at this locus. Here, we characterise the nucleotide variability and haplotype diversity of the porcine FTO gene in breeds having different predispositions to fat deposition traits. We resequenced 4749 bp of coding and non-coding regions of the porcine FTO gene in 44 pigs of eight different breeds and identified 27 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and four insertions/deletions. A positive Tajima's D-value (P < 0.10) obtained in Italian Duroc pigs may be compatible with putative balancing selection. From the sequenced pig panel, 20 haplotypes were inferred, some of which clustered according to the breed of origin (Meishan and Italian Duroc). Genetic heterogeneity at this locus could complicate the dissection of the effects of this gene on fat deposition and production traits in pigs. This situation resembles, to some extent, what has been reported in humans, thus making the study of the porcine FTO gene variability especially interesting, as it could be used as a model to understand the complex and elusive role of this gene in human obesity.

PLIN2 (perilipin 2) is a cytosolic protein that promotes the formation and stabilization of the intracellular lipid droplets, organelles involved in the storage of lipid depots. Porcine PLIN2 gene represents a biological and positional candidate for fat deposition, a polygenic trait that affects carcass and meat quality. The aim of the present study was to screen PLIN2 gene for polymorphisms, to evaluate the association with carcass quality traits, and to investigate the gene expression in skeletal muscle. Six new single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were detected by sequencing 32 samples from five pig breeds (Italian Large White, Italian Duroc, Italian Landrace, Belgian Landrace, Pietrain). Two SNP localized in introns, two in the 3′-untranslated region (UTR), and two missense SNP were found in exons. A 3′-UTR mutation (GU461317:g.98G>A), genotyped in 290 Italian Duroc pigs by High Resolution Melting, resulted significantly associated (P < 0.01) with average daily gain, feed conversion ratio, lean cuts and hams weight estimated breeding values. PLIN2 gene expression analysis in skeletal muscle of Italian Large White and Italian Duroc pigs divergent for backfat thickness and visible intermuscular fat showed a trend of higher expression level in pigs with higher intermuscular fat. These results suggest that PLIN2 can be a marker for carcass quality in pigs. Further investigation at both gene and protein level could elucidate its role on fat deposition.

Livestock conservation practice is changing rapidly in light of policy developments, climate change and diversifying market demands. The last decade has seen a step change in technology and analytical approaches available to define, manage and conserve Farm Animal Genomic Resources (FAnGR). However, these rapid changes pose challenges for FAnGR conservation in terms of technological continuity, analytical capacity and integrative methodologies needed to fully exploit new, multidimensional data. The final conference of the ESF Genomic Resources program aimed to address Bruford et al. Challenges in livestock conservation these interdisciplinary problems in an attempt to contribute to the agenda for research and policy development directions during the coming decade. By 2020, according to the Convention on Biodiversity’s Aichi Target 13, signatories should ensure that “…the genetic diversity of …farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives …is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.” However, the real extent of genetic erosion is very difficult to measure using current data. Therefore, this challenging target demands better coverage, understanding and utilization of genomic and environmental data, the development of optimized ways to integrate these data with social and other sciences and policy analysis to enable more flexible, evidence-based models to underpin FAnGR conservation. At the conference, we attempted to identify the most important problems for effective livestock genomic resource conservation during the next decade. Twenty priority questions were identified that could be broadly categorized into challenges related to methodology, analytical approaches, data management and conservation. It should be acknowledged here that while the focus of our meeting was predominantly around genetics, genomics and animal science, many of the practical challenges facing conservation of genomic resources are societal in origin and are predicated on the value (e.g., socio-economic and cultural) of these resources to farmers, rural communities and society as a whole. The overall conclusion is that despite the fact that the livestock sector has been relatively well-organized in the application of genetic methodologies to date, there is still a large gap between the current state-of-the-art in the use of tools to characterize genomic resources and its application to many non-commercial and local breeds, hampering the consistent utilization of genetic and genomic data as indicators of genetic erosion and diversity. The livestock genomic sector therefore needs to make a concerted effort in the coming decade to enable to the democratization of the powerful tools that are now at its disposal, and to ensure that they are applied in the context of breed conservation as well as development

In this contribution two microarray experiments are reviewed aiming to describe (1) the differences in the expression profiles of Duroc and Pietrain pigs during prenatal muscle tissue development, and (2) The changes in the expression profiles of genes related to myogenesis in Duroc pigs. Furthermore, we describe bioinformatics and pathway analyses methods to extract biological meaningful knowledge.

The use of DNA markers to evaluate genetic diversity is an important component of the management of animal genetic resources. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has published a list of recommended microsatellite markers for such studies; however, other markers are potential alternatives. This paper describes results obtained with a set of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers as part of a genetic diversity study of European pig breeds that also utilized microsatellite markers. Data from 148 AFLP markers genotyped across samples from 58 European and one Chinese breed were analysed. The results were compared with previous analyses of data from 50 microsatellite markers genotyped on the same animals. The AFLP markers had an average within-breed heterozygosity of 0.124 but there was wide variation, with individual markers being monomorphic in 3¿98% of the populations. The biallelic and dominant nature of AFLP markers creates a challenge for their use in genetic diversity studies as each individual marker contains limited information and AFLPs only provide indirect estimates of the allelic frequencies that are needed to estimate genetic distances. Nonetheless, AFLP marker-based characterization of genetic distances was consistent with expectations based on breed and regional distributions and produced a similar pattern to that obtained with microsatellites. Thus, data from AFLP markers can be combined with microsatellite data for measuring genetic diversity.

Het Centrum voor Genetische Bronnen Nederland (CGN) van Wageningen UR telt regelmatig aantallen fokdieren van landbouwhuisdierrassen in Nederland. Bij ieder cijfer hoort een verhaal.

Meer dan eens hoor je dat er geen originele Nederlandse varkensrassen meer bestaan. Varkenskenner en -historicus Henk Slaghuis is een andere mening toegedaan. Onlangs heeft het bestuur van de Stichting Zeldzame Huisdierrassen (SZH) de criteria voor een origineel Nederlands ras opnieuw vastgesteld. Met de kennis over het ontstaan van het Nederlands landvarken en de criteria kun je concluderen dat ook het Nederlands landvarken de aandacht van de SZH verdient.

Fat deposition is a crucial aspect of pig meat quality as fat content influences both organoleptic and nutritive characteristics of fresh meat, meat products and consumer acceptance. Among genes controlling fat metabolism, the gene encoding fatty acid synthase (FASN) was proposed as a candidate controlling body fat deposition as it is a central enzyme in lipogenesis. The main function of FASN enzyme is the catalysis of the biochemical process that induces the synthesis of palmitate from acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA, in the presence of NADPH. This work aims to study variability in the expression level of FASN gene mapped on SSc12 where different QTLs for fat composition and marbling were discovered. In particular, we analysed the SNP T265C for FASN gene identified by Munoz et al. (2003). The association study conducted on 237 Italian Large White (ILW) sib tested pigs to determine whether this polymorphism affected meat productive traits did not allow finding any associations between the SNP and the reported traits. Regarding the Italian Duroc (ID) breed, no association study was performed because in this breed T allele was very rare. Differential expression between breeds of the target gene in semimembranosus muscle and in backfat tissue was evident comparing FASN transcription level between ID and ILW pigs. In particular, ID pigs have a higher expression level of the gene in skeletal muscle than ILW (P=0.01). In backfat tissue the Italian Large White samples showed higher gene expression level than Italian Duroc pigs with a tendency to significant difference (P=0.08). If further analyses will confirm this results on a large sample, in ID breed the transcriptional level of FASN gene could be considered as marker of fat deposition.

De Bonte Bentheimer en het Nederlands landvarken hebben al de volle aandacht van de SZH. Maar verdient het Groot-Yorkshirevarken die aandacht ook niet? In de Nederlandse varkensfokkerij is dit ras indertijd gefokt voor de productie van slagersvarkens. In dit artikel wordt de geschiedenis van het Nederlands Groot-Yorkshirevarken op een rij gezet en aangegeven hoe het er nu voorstaat.

De stand van zaken van het onderzoeksproject met Meishan-kruisingen van de Vakgroep Veefokkerij van de LU, dat in 1989 is gestart in samenwerking met 5 Nederlandse fokkerij-instellingen. Doel is het leveren van een bijdrage aan het in kaart brengen van het erfelijk materiaal van het varken

De Bonte Bentheimer heeft in Nederland een kleine populatieomvang. In kleine rassen kan inteelt voor grote problemen zorgen en dus is een goed fokbeleid nodig om een te sterke inteelttoename te voorkomen.

Meer dan eens hoor je dat er geen originele Nederlandse varkensrassen meer bestaan. Varkenskenner en -historicus Henk Slaghuis is een andere mening toegedaan. Onlangs heeft het bestuur van de Stichting Zeldzame Huisdierrassen (SZH) de criteria voor een origineel Nederlands ras opnieuw vastgesteld. Met de kennis over het ontstaan van het Nederlands landvarken en de criteria kun je concluderen dat ook het Nederlands landvarken de aandacht van de SZH verdient.

Het Centrum voor Genetische Bronnen Nederland (CGN) van Wageningen UR telt regelmatig aantallen fokdieren van landbouwhuisdierrassen in Nederland. Bij ieder cijfer hoort een verhaal.

De Bonte Bentheimer heeft in Nederland een kleine populatieomvang. In kleine rassen kan inteelt voor grote problemen zorgen en dus is een goed fokbeleid nodig om een te sterke inteelttoename te voorkomen.

Het Centrum voor Genetische Bronnen Nederland (CGN) van Wageningen UR telt regelmatig aantallen fokdieren van landbouwhuisdierrassen in Nederland. Bij ieder cijfer hoort een verhaal.

Meer dan eens hoor je dat er geen originele Nederlandse varkensrassen meer bestaan. Varkenskenner en -historicus Henk Slaghuis is een andere mening toegedaan. Onlangs heeft het bestuur van de Stichting Zeldzame Huisdierrassen (SZH) de criteria voor een origineel Nederlands ras opnieuw vastgesteld. Met de kennis over het ontstaan van het Nederlands landvarken en de criteria kun je concluderen dat ook het Nederlands landvarken de aandacht van de SZH verdient.

The pig, Sus scrofa, is a foreign species to the American continent. Although pigs originally introduced in the Americas should be related to those from the Iberian Peninsula and Canary islands, the phylogeny of current creole pigs that now populate the continent is likely to be very complex. Because of the extreme climates that America harbors, these populations also provide a unique example of a fast evolutionary phenomenon of adaptation. Here, we provide a genome wide study of these issues by genotyping, with a 60k SNP chip, 206 village pigs sampled across 14 countries and 183 pigs from outgroup breeds that are potential founders of the American populations, including wild boar, Iberian, international and Chinese breeds. Results show that American village pigs are primarily of European ancestry, although the observed genetic landscape is that of a complex conglomerate. There was no correlation between genetic and geographical distances, neither continent wide nor when analyzing specific areas. Most populations showed a clear admixed structure where the Iberian pig was not necessarily the main component, illustrating how international breeds, but also Chinese pigs, have contributed to extant genetic composition of American village pigs. We also observe that many genes related to the cardiovascular system show an increased differentiation between altiplano and genetically related pigs living near sea level., WBP is funded by COLCIENCIAS (Francisco José de Caldas fellowship 497/2009, Colombia), CAS thanks grants from CAPES and EMBRAPA (Brazil), YRC is recipient of a PhD studentship from MICINN (Spain, ref. AP2008-01450), AEC is recipient of a PhD studentship from MICINN (Spain). Work funded by Consolider CSD2007-00036 ‘Center for Research in Agrigenomics’ and AGL2010-14822 grants (Spain) to MPE, EU SABRE project FOOD-CT-2006-01625, USDA project 2007-04315 (USA), Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, San Pedro (UNA), Unión de Gremios de la Producción (UGP) and Empresa San Rafael Agricola y Ganadera SRL (Paraguay), Universidad Técnica de Oruro (Bolivia), Programa de Conservación de los Bancos de Germoplasma, Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (grant 048-2011) and Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (Colombia), and Centro de Validación de Tecnologías Agropecuarias (CEDEVA, Formosa, Argentina).

Inbreeding has long been recognized as a primary cause of fitness reduction in both wild and domesticated populations. Consanguineous matings cause inheritance of haplotypes that are identical by descent (IBD) and result in homozygous stretches along the genome of the offspring. Size and position of regions of homozygosity (ROHs) are expected to correlate with genomic features such as GC content and recombination rate, but also direction of selection. Thus, ROHs should be non-randomly distributed across the genome. Therefore, demographic history may not fully predict the effects of inbreeding. The porcine genome has a relatively heterogeneous distribution of recombination rate, making Sus scrofa an excellent model to study the influence of both recombination landscape and demography on genomic variation. This study utilizes next-generation sequencing data for the analysis of genomic ROH patterns, using a comparative sliding window approach. We present an in-depth study of genomic variation based on three different parameters: nucleotide diversity outside ROHs, the number of ROHs in the genome, and the average ROH size. We identified an abundance of ROHs in all genomes of multiple pigs from commercial breeds and wild populations from Eurasia. Size and number of ROHs are in agreement with known demography of the populations, with population bottlenecks highly increasing ROH occurrence. Nucleotide diversity outside ROHs is high in populations derived from a large ancient population, regardless of current population size. In addition, we show an unequal genomic ROH distribution, with strong correlations of ROH size and abundance with recombination rate and GC content. Global gene content does not correlate with ROH frequency, but some ROH hotspots do contain positive selected genes in commercial lines and wild populations. This study highlights the importance of the influence of demography and recombination on homozygosity in the genome to understand the effects of inbreeding., Author Summary Small populations have an increased risk of inbreeding depression due to a higher expression of deleterious alleles. This can have major consequences for the viability of these populations. In domesticated species like the pig that are artificially selected in breeding populations, but also in wild populations that experience habitat decline, maintaining genetic diversity is essential. Recent advances in sequence technology enabled us to identify patterns of nucleotide variation in individual genomes. We screened the full genome of wild boars and commercial pigs from Eurasia for regions of homozygosity. We found these regions of homozygosity were caused by the demographic history and effective population size of the pigs. European wild boars are least variable, but also European breeds contain large homozygous stretches in their genome. Moreover, the likelihood of a region becoming depleted depends on its position in the genome, because variation has a high correlation with recombination rate. The telomeric regions are much more variable, and the central region of chromosomes has a higher chance of containing long regions of homozygosity. These findings increase knowledge on the fine-scaled architecture of genomic variation, and they are particularly important for population genetic management.

The Berkshire pig (Sus domestica L.) breed has thin muscle fibers and excellent water-holding capacity. The Berkshire meat makes it widely accepted in the Japanese premium pork market. This study evaluates the accuracy of improving carcass quality with the use of live animal records of Berkshire pigs. Traits analyzed in live animals were: body weight at 60 days of age (W60), age at finish (AGF), daily weight gain from birth to finish (DG), back fat thickness at finish (BFTF), and loin eye area at finish (LEAF), and in carcasses were: carcass weight, loin eye area (LEA), and subcutaneous fat thickness (SCF) at some points, using the records of 4,773 purebred Berkshire pigs. Variance components for the traits were estimated according to the animal model by the Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) procedure using the VCE6 program (Neumaier and Groeneveld, 1998). Correlated responses were also calculated. Genetic correlations of back fat thickness (BFT) in live animals with SCF in slaughtered animals were strong, whereas that of LEA between live and slaughtered animals was low. The expected gains by actual selection including W60 and BFTF as selection criterion were superior to other selections. Therefore, selection of live animals at an early stage of growth would be conducive to the production of high quality meat.

This study aimed to investigate the genes PPARGC1A (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma-coactivator 1A) and CAPNS1 (calpain small subunit 1) as candidate genes affecting meat quality traits in pigs. Four polymorphisms were identified in PPARCG1A and three in CAPNS1. The PPARGC1A polymorphism c.1288T>A was associated with pH and cooking loss in a F2 Durocx Pietrain experimental cross (DuPi, n =313) and with pH values in Italian Large White (ILW, n=380) and Italian Landrace (ILA, n=158) populations (PC was associated with pH and conductivity in DuPi and with meat color in ILA (P

Protecting the environment is one of the most important tasks of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Noise is in addition to much more tangible pollution of air and water also one of the environmental hazard. Usage of mechanization at the pig breeding causes noise pollution so the main task of this bachelor thesis was to measure the spread of noise from the near stalls . Measure values and compare them with the prevailing regulatory and health standards and than use formulas to determine minimum, maximum and equivalent sound levels. Then these measured values evaluate and determine whether or not it exceed the maximum noise levels. In the case when standards are exceeded, design measures to reduce noise.

Using an array consisting of 10 665 70-mer oligonucleotide probes, the longissimus dorsi muscle tissue expression during growth in nine pigs belonging to Casertana (CT), an autochthonous breed characterized by slow growth and a massive accumulation of backfat, was compared with that of two cosmopolitan breeds, Large White (LW) and a crossbreed (CB; Duroc × Landrace × Large White). The results were validated by real-time PCR. All animals were of the same age and were raised under the same environmental conditions. Muscle tissues were collected at 3, 6, 9 and 11 months of age, and a total of 173 genes showed significant differential expression between CT and the cosmopolitan genetic types at 3 months of age. Time series cluster analysis indicated that the CT breed had a different pattern of gene expression compared with that of the LW and the CB. Four of the eight clusters highlighted the gene differences between CT and the other two breeds, which were further supported by statistical analyses: clusters 4 and 5 contained a total of 71 genes that were underexpressed at 3 months of age, and cluster 3 and cluster 7 included 28 and 42 genes respectively that were overexpressed at 3 months of age. As expected, differentially expressed genes belonged to the category of genes coding for contractile fibres and transcription factors involved in muscle development and differentiation. These findings highlight muscle expression genes during pig growth and are useful to understand the genetic meaning of the different developmental rates.

De Bonte Bentheimer en het Nederlands landvarken hebben al de volle aandacht van de SZH. Maar verdient het Groot-Yorkshirevarken die aandacht ook niet? In de Nederlandse varkensfokkerij is dit ras indertijd gefokt voor de productie van slagersvarkens. In dit artikel wordt de geschiedenis van het Nederlands Groot-Yorkshirevarken op een rij gezet en aangegeven hoe het er nu voorstaat.

International audience; An evaluation of the European pig diversity has been carried on by several countries, with the support of the European Union over the period of 1994 to 2000. This article presents an overview of the results of this investigation, focussing on two genetic marker techniques, namely microsatellites (MS) and amplification of fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Nearly 200 loci were characterised on about 50 individuals from each of 59 to 71 breeds, according to the marker considered. The analysis of diversity, based on genetic distances, led to similar conclusions for the two marker types (MS and AFLP), in spite of a markedly lower total diversity of AFLP compared to MS. The analysis of the MS loci showed that the allelic diversity pattern among breeds was quasi-independent from the diversity pattern based on allele frequencies. Genetic distances showed no particular clustering of local with international breeds, confirming the genetic uniqueness of the European local breeds compared to mainstream international breeds. The taxonomy of the local breeds revealed a cluster of the Iberian type breeds, in contrast with a wider dispersal of the breeds from other countries. Phylogeny often disagreed with documented breeds’ history, showing the complex migration/admixture patterns which underlie the breeds’ relationships. Methodologies developed in this investigation as well as the database and the DNA depository created should provide support for further innovative research in the field of domestic animal diversity management.