Effect of leukemia inhibitory factor polymorphism on litter size traits in Thai commercial pig breeds

Abstract

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a crucial candidate gene that impacts on implantation process. In this study, the effects of the porcine LIF polymorphism on litter size traits were elucidated in Thai commercial pig populations. Genotyping of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the porcine LIF gene was detected in coding and 3ˊ-untranslated regions. The porcine LIF c.*24C>T was segregating in Large White, Landrace, and Large White × Landrace (LW × LR) crossbred sows. No polymorphisms at two non-synonymous SNPs loci (LIF c.28C>A and LIF c.161A>G) were found in this study. The porcine LIF c.*24C>T was significantly associated with the total number born (TNB), the number born alive (NBA), and the number of piglets weaned alive (NWA) traits in Large White and Landrace sows. Moreover, the porcine LIF c.*24C>T was associated with the NBA and NWA traits in LW × LR crossbred sows. The favorable LIF c.*24C allele was positively correlated with the litter size traits. These findings indicated that the polymorphism of the porcine LIF gene was associated with litter size traits and confirms the significance of porcine LIF as a candidate gene for litter size traits in pig breeding. Thus, the porcine LIF gene could be used for improving prolific traits in these Thai commercial pig populations.

Association of FTH and EPOR gene polymorphisms with litter size traits in pigs

“…The sows were fed a corn-soybean-based diet containing 16% crude protein and 3388 kcal/kg digestible energy and were maintained in closed houses with evaporative cooling systems. Litter size data were available from 974 Large White and 1068 Landrace litters (1 st to 8 th parities) and were recorded in terms of total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA), the number of piglets weaned alive (NWA), mean birth weight of the piglets (MBW), and mean weight of piglets at weaning (21 days, MWW) (Norseeda et al, 2021a;2021b). Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples using the Chelex method (Walsh et al, 2013) and store at 4°C for further analysis.…”