engleski

Analysis of estrogen receptor polymorphism and litter size traits in primiparous sows: preliminary results.

Identification of individual genes controlling litter size and their use in selection programs could contribute to an increased reproductive rate in pig population. Estrogen receptor gene (ESR) is a candidate gene marker for reproductive traits and growth in pigs. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate polymorphism of ESR gene and frequencies of different ESR-PvuII genotypes and their litter size in primiparous sows. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, with the restriction enzyme PvuII was used in genotyping 30 primiparous hybrid sows Topigs 20. The analysed reproductive traits for litter size were: Total Number of Born piglets (TNB), Number of Born Alive piglets (NBA), Number of Stillborn piglets (NSB) and Number of Mummified piglets (NMUM). Allele and genotype frequencies were calculated, and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was tested using chi square test. The ANOVA test was used tfor analysing the litter size differences between sows with different genotypes. Three genotypes were detected with apsolute frequences AA (13), AB (14), BB (3), and gene relative frequences were for alel A (0.67) and alel B(0.33). Invastigated animals were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The primiparous sows with the BB genotype showed highest TNB (14.33) and NSB (2.33). Number of born alive piglets and NMUM were the highest in primiparous sows with genotype AA (12.66 and 0.38, respectively). No statistical significans (P>0.05) was found for any litter size difference between genotypes. Further investigations, with larger sample size will contribute to more conclusive evaluation of possible correlation between ESR-PvuII polymorphism and litter size in sows.

Estrogen Receptor Gene; Topigs 20; Litter size

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