BackgroundNearly 6,000 QTL have been reported for 588 different traits in pigs, more than in any other livestock species. However, this effort has translated into only a few confirmed causative variants. A powerful strategy for revealing candidate genes involves expression QTL (eQTL) mapping, where the mRNA abundance of a set of transcripts is used as the response variable for a QTL scan.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe utilized a whole genome expression microarray and an F2 pig resource population to conduct a global eQTL analysis in loin muscle tissue, and compared results to previously inferred phenotypic QTL (pQTL) from the same experimental cross. We found 62 unique eQTL (FDR <10%) and identified 3 gene networks enriched with genes subject to genetic control involved in lipid metabolism, DNA replication, and cell cycle regulation. We observed strong evidence of local regulation (40 out of 59 eQTL with known genomic position) and compared these eQTL to pQTL to help identify potential candidate genes. Among the interesting associations, we found aldo-keto reductase 7A2 (AKR7A2) and thioredoxin domain containing 12 (TXNDC12) eQTL that are part of a network associated with lipid metabolism and in turn overlap with pQTL regions for marbling, % intramuscular fat (% fat) and loin muscle area on Sus scrofa (SSC) chromosome 6. Additionally, we report 13 genomic regions with overlapping eQTL and pQTL involving 14 local eQTL.Conclusions/SignificanceResults of this analysis provide novel candidate genes for important complex pig phenotypes.

Skeletal muscle development is a complex process involving the coordinated expression of thousands of genes. The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes in longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle of pigs at 40 and 70 days (d) of gestation (developmental stages encompassing primary and secondary fibre formation) in Yorkshire-Landrace (YL) cross-bred pigs and Piau pigs (a naturalized Brazilian breed), which are two breed types that differ in muscularity. Foetuses were obtained from gilts at each gestational age (n = 3 YL; n = 4 Piau), and transcriptional profiling was performed using the Pigoligoarray microarray containing 20 400 oligonucleotides. A total of 486 oligonucleotides were differentially expressed (fold change (FC) ≥ 1.5; false discovery rate (FDR) ≤ 0.05) between 40 and 70 d gestation in either YL or Piau pigs, and a total of 1300 oligonucleotides were differentially expressed (FC ≥ 1.5; FDR ≤ 0.05) between YL and Piau pigs at either age. Gene ontology annotation and pathway analyses determined functional classifications for differentially expressed genes and revealed breed type-specific developmental expression patterns. Thirteen genes were selected for confirmation by qRT-PCR analyses, and expression patterns for most of these genes were confirmed, providing further insight into the roles of these genes in pig muscle development. This study revealed both developmental and breed type-specific patterns of gene expression in foetal pig skeletal muscle, including genes not previously associated with myogenesis. This information will contribute to future pig genetic improvement efforts.

Background: Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element. However, Zn bioavailability from commonly consumed plants may be reduced due to phytic acid. Zn supplementation has been used to treat diarrheal disease in children, and in the U.S. swine industry at pharmacological levels to promote growth and fecal consistency, but underlying mechanisms explaining these beneficial effects remain unknown. Moreover, adding supplemental phytase improves Zn bioavailability. Thus, we hypothesized that benefits of pharmacological Zn supplementation result from changes in gene expression that could be further affected by supplemental phytase. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding newly weaned pigs dietary Zn (150, 1,000, or 2,000 mg Zn/kg) as Zn oxide with or without phytase [500 phytase units (FTU)/kg] for 14 d on hepatic gene expression. Liver RNA from pigs fed 150, 1,000, or 2,000 mg Zn/kg, or 1,000 mg Zn/kg with phytase (n = 4 per treatment) was reverse transcribed and examined using the differential display reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction technique. Liver RNA from pigs fed 150 or 2,000 mg Zn/kg (n = 4 per treatment) was also evaluated using a 70-mer oligonucleotide microarray.

Genes located on human chromosome 12 (HSA12) are conserved on pig chromosomes 5 and 14 (SSC5 and SSC14), with HSA12q23.3→q24.11 harboring the evolutionary breakpoint between these chromosomes. For this study, pig sequence-tagged sites (STS) were developed for nine HSA12 genes flanking this breakpoint. Radiation hybrid (RH) mapping using the IMpRH panel revealed that COL2A1, DUSP6, KITLG, PAH and STAB2 map to SSC5, while PXN, PLA2G1B, SART3 and TCF1 map to SSC14. Polymorphisms identified in COL2A1, DUSP6, PAH, PLA2G1B and TCF1 were used for genetic linkage mapping and confirmed the map locations for these genes. Our results indicate that the HSA12 evolutionary breakpoint occurs between STAB2 and SART3 in a region spanning less than five million basepairs. These results refine the comparative map of the HSA12 evolutionary breakpoint region and help to further elucidate the extensive gene order rearrangements between HSA12 and SSC5 and 14.