Project description:This study is the first to report a genome-wide comparative DNA methylation map of adult pig sperm in three commercial pig breeds using WGBS technology. Our results showed that DNA methylation was more conserved in the three commercial pig breeds. Moreover, our results indicated that breed-specific HMRs are related to phenotypic changes and economically complex traits for each breed. The conserved HMRs between pig sperm and testis close to or located in the promoter regions of important genes are mainly involved in DNA repair and spermatogenesis.
Project description:Since CNVs play a vital role in genomic studies, it is an imperative need to develop a comprehensive, more accurate and higher resolution porcine CNV map with practical significance in follow-up CNV functional analyses To detect CNV of pigs, we performed high density aCGH data of diverse pig breeds in the framework of the pig draft genome sequence (Sscrofa10.2) 9 Chinese indigenous pig, one Chinese wild boar and 2 commercial pigs were detected using one pig of Duroc as reference. These 12 animals include 1 wild pig, 2 pigs each from Yorkshire and Landrace as the representatives of modern commercial breeds and 9 unrelated individuals selected from 6 Chinese indigenous breeds (2- Tibetan pig, 2- Diannan small-ear pig, 2-Meishan pig, 1- Min pig, 1-Daweizi pig, and 1-Rongchang pig).
Project description:Local breeds retained unique genetic variability important for adaptive potential especially in light of challenges related to climate change. Our objective was to perform, for the first time, a genome-wide diversity characterization using Illumina GoatSNP50 BeadChip of autochthonous Drežnica goat breed from Slovenia. Genetic diversity analyses revealed that the Slovenian Drežnica goat has a distinct genetic identity and is closely related to the neighboring Austrian and Italian alpine breeds. These results expand our knowledge on phylogeny of goat breeds from easternmost part of the European Alps.
Project description:Since CNVs play a vital role in genomic studies, it is an imperative need to develop a comprehensive, more accurate and higher resolution porcine CNV map with practical significance in follow-up CNV functional analyses To detect CNV of pigs, we performed high density aCGH data of diverse pig breeds in the framework of the pig draft genome sequence (Sscrofa10.2) 9 Chinese indigenous pig, 2 commercial pigs, 1 wild pig were detected using one pig of Duroc as reference.
Project description:To evaluate the roles of miRNA in porcine liver, dynamic profiles of microRNAome were investigated in swine breeds with different traits of commercial interest, we sampled liver tissues from a Chinese well-known elite native breed of Enshi black pig, a Large White pig, and a Chinese wild boar living within the same environment at the same day-old(90d).
Project description:Western commercial pig breeds have been intensively selected, resulting in a sizeable, rapid, and efficient accretion of muscle but a reduction in meat quality. When compared with Western commercial pig breeds, Chinese indigenous pig breeds exhibited slower growth rates and reduced lean meat content but superior perceived meat quality. To study the factors that determine meat quality, we examined piglets of one Western commercial breed (Yorkshire) and one Chinese indigenous breed (Wannanhua) and sequenced the longissimus dorsi muscle using RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). We analyzed their transcriptomes, focusing on identifying candidate genes that may influence porcine muscle growth, meat quality and adipose deposition. Gene ontology functional enrichment and pathway enrichment analyses identified differentially expressed genes primarily associated with glycolytic metabolism, biological processes of muscle development and signaling pathways related to fatty acid metabolism, growth and carcass traits. This finding suggests that the differentially expressed genes may play important roles in determining meat quality traits. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) confirmed the differential expression of twelve selected differentially expressed genes. This study identified a number of novel candidate genes for porcine meat quality and carcass traits that merit further investigation to elucidate the molecular mechanisms responsible for muscle growth and fat deposition.
Project description:Pig breeds have different attitude to traits like growth rate, carcass composition and reproduction parameters as well as other traits. These traits considered as external traits or end phenotypes are the outcome of complex biological processes and interactions. The main goal of pig breeding programs and the basis for crossbreeding is finding a balance between these traits. In pig production, Large White and Duroc breeds are commonly used to optimise respectively fertility and growth ability and differ on several production traits, indeed the first breed as a high fertility characters whereas Duroc is used as terminal sire for her growth performance and good carcass quality traits. In this study, we have used a quantitative label-free LC-MS proteomics approach to characterise and compare the liver proteome of two heavy Italian pig breeds, Italian Duroc and Italian Large White to identify difference due to their different genetic background. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 703094.
Project description:The Ashanti Dwarf Pig (ADP) of Ghana is an endangered pig breed with hardy and disease resistant traits. Characterisation of animal genetic resources provides relevant data for their conservation and sustainable use for food security and economic development. We investigated the origin and phylogenetic status of the local ADP of Ghana and their crosses with modern commercial breeds based on mtDNA, MC1R and Y-chromosome sequence polymorphisms, and genome-wide SNP genotyping. The study involved 164 local pigs sampled from the three agro-ecological zones of Ghana. Analyses of the mitochondrial D-loop region and Y-chromosome sequences revealed that the ADP of Ghana has both European and Asian genetic signatures. The ADP also displays considerable variation in the MC1R gene. Black coat colour is the most predominant within the breed, with the dominant black alleles of both Asian and European origin contributing to the majority of alleles in the pool. European alleles for spotting are present at a low frequency in the sample set, and may account for the occurrence of spotted piglets in some APD litters. Other colour variants may be due to epistatic interactions with additional coat colour loci, or mutations. The wide variations in coat colour patterns suggest that morphology alone cannot be used to adequately characterise Ghanaian local pigs. PCA analysis of SNP genotyping data revealed a strong location effect on clustering of local Ghanaian pigs. Based on this work, we recommend that further studies be carried out on more local pigs to find out the effect of admixture on important adaptive and economic traits of the ADP and other local Sus breeds in Africa to help develop a sustainable conservation programmes to prevent the decline of this genetic resource.
Project description:To explore the methylome differences of swine breeds with different traits of commercial interest, we sampled liver tissues from a Chinese well-known elite native breed of Enshi black pig, a Large White pig, and a Chinese wild boar living within the same environment at the same daya-old (90d).