Biochemical polymorphisms and genetic relationships between Brazilian and foreign breeds of pigs reared in Brazil

Abstract

The genetic variability of 14 protein systems encoded by 15 structural loci was investigated in blood samples of Piau and Caruncho pig breeds. The results were compared with those obtained previously for samples of Landrace, Large White, Duroc and Mouro. The degree of genetic variability obtained for Piau (He=0.114) was similar to that estimated for other breeds reared in Brazil (Landrace, He=0.116; Large White, He=0.119; Duroc, 0.095; Mouro, He= 0.130). Caruncho showed the lowest variability (He= 0.056). The gene frequencies at the polymorphic loci were used to evaluate the usefulness of these systems for paternity testing and the combined probabilities of paternity exclusion were estimated at 58% for the Piau and 36% for the Caruncho breed. Analysis of genetic distances revealed that the greatest similarity observed was between Piau and Landrace (D=0.042). Caruncho showed the greatest divergence among all breeds compared and the distances between this breed and others range from 0.107 (with Landrace) to 0.176 (with Duroc). The tree constructed by UPGMA and Rogers’ Distance gave a topology in which Piau and Mouro joined with the European breeds (Landrace and Large White) whereas Caruncho was separated from all the other breeds. The results of the analysis of the Caruncho samples should be interpreted with caution since the number of animals studied was small.

Genetic diversity of Brazilian pig breeds evidenced by microsatellite markers

“…The genetic distancing of the Moura breed, also observed in the Landrace breed and in the composite MS60, suggests that their genetic origin, probably Iberian, differs from the commercial breeds. However, based on protein polymorphism, Tagliaro et al, (1995) showed a genetic similarity between the Moura breed and the Landrace and Large White commercial breeds. The authors concluded that such similarity was due to recurrent crossbreedings, because they also assumed that their genetic origins were distinct.…”

“…On the other hand these breeds can be also considered as a potential source of new allelic combinations of extreme importance for the future of the Brazilian pig industry. In Brazil just few works have been done with molecular markers emphasizing naturalized pig breeds (Tagliaro et al, 1995;Gonela, 2003;Guimarães, 2003;Grossi et al, 2006).…”

Disruption of Mitochondrion-To-Nucleus Interaction in Deceased Cloned Piglets

“…We found that all cloned piglets had either the Large White or the Duroc as the maternal background. These breeds are the most common commercial pig lineages of the world and serve to produce many mixed-lineaged commercial hogs [ 31 ]. Although these European domestic pig lineages are closely related in their maternal lines, Large White is supposed to have separated from the European lineages around 58,000 year ago.…”