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Min pigs and Large White pigs are two breeds that vary significantly in thickness of adipose tissue. In this study, transcriptome profiling was used to examine the fat tissues of both breed...

Min Pig (Sus scrofa) is a northern Chinese domestic pig breed, whose cold resistance is remarkable. However, the cold-resistant phenotype of Min Pig is unclear. Our studies showed that in long-term...

Oocyte competence is an important determinant of reproductive success and can be disrupted by heat/cold stress. Information related to seasonally induced cold stress effects in cold areas on oocyte competence in the bovine is still scarce, however. Therefore, we performed experiments to test the hypothesis that seasonally induced cold/heat stress affects bovine oocyte competence in cold areas. Oocytes were collected in the winter, summer, and autumn, and we showed a significantly better survival and growth rate in the cold compared with hot temperatures, as recorded for two-cell and blastocyst stage embryos (P

Myogenin (MyoG) plays an important role in muscle differentiation, which can initiate the formation of the fusion of muscle cells and myofibroblasts. To investigate the transcriptional regulatory mechanism of MyoG gene in Min pig, the promoter fragment spanning from −2085 bp to +118 bp was amplified with PCR, and the potential transcriptional elements were predicted via bioinformatics analysis. Subsequently, nine promoter segments with different base pair sizes were obtained and ligated into PGL3-Basic vectors, respectively. Lastly, the functional activity of each of the aforementioned promoters was tested separately in transiently transfected C2C12 cells via a dual-luciferase assay system. The results indicated that the sequence −199 bp to −31 bp may have the basic activity of the promoter. Further analysis demonstrated that the sequence −137 bp to −101 bp was important for the basic transcriptional activity. Bioinformatics analysis showed that CdxA and MZF1 transcription factors may play an impo...

Zhang, D.J., Liu, D., Yang, G.W., Fu, X.K. and He, X.M. 2010. Impact of the GPX5, FUT1, FSHβ and PRLR genes on individual weight at birth and 30 days in hybrid pig. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 38: 239–243. To analyse polymorphisms and genetic associations of glutathione peroxidase 5 (GPX5), α1-fucosyltransferase (FUT1), follicle stimulating hormone β subunit (FSHβ) and prolactin receptor (PRLR) genes in F1 hybrid pig (Wild boar × Large White pig), their genetic associations with individual weight at birth (WTB) and 30 d (WT30) were analyzed. The AB genotype of FSHβ gene was associated with higher birth weight in comparison to the BB genotype (P

Zhang, D. and Liu, D. 2010. Polymorphism of the ESRα, PRLR, LHβ and RYRI genes in the four pig populations. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 38: 73–76. Polymorphism in Estrogen Receptor α (ESRα), Prolactin Receptor (PRLR), Luteinizing Hormone β (LHβ) and the Ryanodine Receptor 1 (RYRI) genes, which play important roles in litter size of pigs, were analysed in four pig populations (Min, Landrace, York-shine, Duroc) using PCR-SSCP. There was one SNP in ESRα (Arg/His488), two SNPs in PRLR (one silent mutation and Val/Ala555) and two silent mutations each in LHβ and RYRI. PRLR was highly polymorphic locus (0.59≥PIC≥0.46), LHβ and RYRI were moderately polymorphic loci (0.36≥PIC≥0.15) and ESRβ was very low polymorphic locus (0.07≥PIC≥0.00).

The effects of the polymorphism of the nuclear receptor coactivator 1 gene (NCOA1), osteopontin (OPN), and retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) genes on individual weight at birth (WTB) and individual weight at 30 days (WT30) were analyzed by Polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) in hybrid pig (Landrace ♀ ×Wild boar ♂). The relationship between different genotypes and WTB and WT30 were analyzed. Results showed that: AA genotype of NCOA1 had higher WT30 than BB individuals (P 0.05). BB and AB genotypes of RBP4 had a higher WTB and WT30 than AA (P>0.05). The results presented here demonstrate that the NCOA1 gene may be considered as a marker for WT30 trait in pig.

Zhang, D., Gao, Z., Liu, D. and Yang, G. 2009. Cloning and expression of the porcine MEF2a gene. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 55–59. To clone the complete coding sequence of the porcine MEF2a gene and to analyze its expression characterization, two isoforms of MEF2a gene (MEF2aA, MEF2aB) were obtained. Amino acid homology of two isoforms was 86.79%. It was completely identical in 1st-77th and 132th -470th amino acid, and was hypervariable in 78th-131st amino acid. MEF2aB had 34 amino acids (102bp) deletion in 224th-258th amino acid compared with MEF2aA. MEF2a was a broad-spectrum expression gene. Porcine MEF2aA, horse and house mouse existed in the same group, but porcine MEF2aB, cattle and human existed in another group in the phylogenetic tree. Therefore, MEF2a gene was presumed to be an apparent variation during evolutionary process.