Effect of swine leukocyte antigen‐DQA gene variation on diarrhea in Large White, Landrace, and Duroc piglets

Abstract

Piglet diarrhea is one of the most common factors that affects the benefits of the swine industry. Although recent studies have shown that exon 2 of SLA-DQA is associated with piglet resistance to diarrhea, contributions of genetic variation in the additional exon coding regions of this gene remain unclear. Here, we investigated variation in exons 1, 3 and 4 of the SLA-DQA gene and evaluated their effects on diarrheal infection in 425 suckling piglets. No variation was identified in exon 1. In exon 3, there were eight alleles detected, generated by 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and three nucleotide deletions, eight SNPs being newly identified. Four allele sequences and three SNPs were identified in exon 4, only one SNP being newly identified. Statistical analysis showed that the genotypes of exon 3 are significantly associated with piglet diarrhea; indeed, genotypes DQA*wb01/wb02 and wb04/wb05 are clearly associated with resistance to piglet diarrhea, as they have the lowest probabilities of infection (P < 0.05). However, no significant association was found between the genotypes of exon 4 and diarrhea (P > 0.05). These results provide important new information concerning the level of genetic diversity at the SLA-DQA locus and suggest that further genetic association studies of piglet diarrhea resistance should include analyses of both exons 2 and 3 of this locus.

Circular RNA expression profile of spleen in a Clostridium perfringens type C‐induced piglet model of necrotizing enteritis

“…During the period of the 5‐day experiment, we recorded diarrheal times and fecal state of each time. Fecal symptom traits (0 = normal, solid feces; 1 = slight diarrhea, soft and loose feces; 2 = moderate diarrhea, semi‐liquid feces; 3 = severe diarrhea, liquid and unformed feces) were evaluated by a previously described method . Student's t test was used to judge significance of total scores between CS and TS.…”

Diversity of the Swine Leukocyte Antigen Class I and II in Commercial Pig Populations

“…The SLA complex is one of the key determinants of swine immune responses (24)(25)(26)(27)(28). Additionally, some studies have reported impact of SLA on other traits including bodyweight (29), meat production (27) and reproductive traits such as fertility index, ovulation rate and litter size (28,30,31).…”

Molecular Cloning and Bioinformatics Analysis of DQA Gene from Mink (Neovison vison)

“…The DQA gene presents foreign peptide antigens from infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, and autoimmune antigens [21], providing a valuable source of genetic markers for examining the correlations between host variants and disease resistance or susceptibility [22]. As a functional unit, exon 3 of the swine leukocyte antigen DQA ( SLA-DQA ) gene is pivotal to both diarrhea susceptibility and resistance based on the effects on diarrheal infection in 425 suckling piglets [23,24]. The correlation between the polymorphisms of SLA-DQA exon 2 and piglet diarrhea in three Chinese native pig breeds indicated that the amino acid variations in the pepetide binding pockets play a critical role in the antigen-binding groove in piglet diarrhea resistance [25].…”