Animals (Mar 2020)

Polymorphism of <i>VRTN</i> Gene g.20311_20312ins291 Was Associated with the Number of Ribs, Carcass Diagonal Length and Cannon Bone Circumference in Suhuai Pigs

  • Nengjing Jiang,
  • Chenxi Liu,
  • Tingxu Lan,
  • Qian Zhang,
  • Yang Cao,
  • Guang Pu,
  • Peipei Niu,
  • Zongping Zhang,
  • Qiang Li,
  • Juan Zhou,
  • Xiaokui Li,
  • Liming Hou,
  • Ruihua Huang,
  • Pinghua Li

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10030484
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 3
p. 484

Abstract

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The vertnin (VRTN) gene g.20311_20312ins291 was reported as an important variant related to the number of ribs (RIB), and the ins/ins genotype was advantageous for improving RIB of Western pigs. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the VRTN gene g.20311_20312ins291 influences RIB, carcass traits, and body size traits, including cannon bone circumference (CBC) in Chinese Suhuai pigs. We found that the VRTN gene g.20311_20312ins291 was polymorphic in Suhuai fattening pigs and gilts. The polymorphism of g.20311_20312ins291 was significantly associated with RIB and CDL in Suhuai fattening pigs (p < 0.01), whereas this variant had no influence on carcass weight (CWT). There was a tendency of association between this variant and carcass straight length (CSL) in Suhuai fattening pigs (p = 0.06). The polymorphism of g.20311_20312ins291 was also significantly associated with CBC in Suhuai gilts (p = 0.04). Furthermore, CBC was positively genetically correlated with body length (0.22, p < 0.01) and body weight (0.15, p < 0.01). Our results indicated that the VRTN gene g.20311_20312ins291 could be used as a potential marker for improving RIB, CDL, and CBC in Suhuai pigs.

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