Genome-wide Association Study of Integrated Meat Quality-related Traits of the Duroc Pig Breed

Abstract

The increasing importance of meat quality has implications for animal breeding programs. Research has revealed much about the genetic background of pigs, and many studies have revealed the importance of various genetic factors. Since meat quality is a complex trait which is affected by many factors, consideration of the overall phenotype is very useful to study meat quality. For integrating the phenotypes, we used principle component analysis (PCA). The significant SNPs refer to results of the GRAMMAR method against PC1, PC2 and PC3 of 14 meat quality traits of 181 Duroc pigs. The Genome-wide association study (GWAS) found 26 potential SNPs affecting various meat quality traits. The loci identified are located in or near 23 genes. The SNPs associated with meat quality are in or near five genes (ANK1, BMP6, SHH, PIP4K2A, and FOXN2) and have been reported previously. Twenty-five of the significant SNPs also located in meat quality-related QTL regions, these result supported the QTL effect indirectly. Each single gene typically affects multiple traits. Therefore, it is a useful approach to use integrated traits for the various traits at the same time. This innovative approach using integrated traits could be applied on other GWAS of complex-traits including meat-quality, and the results will contribute to improving meat-quality of pork.

Genome-Wide Association of Myoglobin Concentrations in Pork Loins

“…This gene has been shown to impact meat quality (Lee et al, 2014). As a member of the hedgehog-signaling pathway, BMP6 may be important in slow oxidative fiber clustering in pigs (Lee et al, 2014). Hence, selection for desirable alleles of BMP6 may increase iron homeostasis and increase oxidative fiber clustering, which could in turn increase myoglobin concentration in the meat.…”

“…Bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6), located in the region SSC 7_4 Mb, regulates a range of biological processes, including iron homeostasis, ovulation, and bone and fat development. This gene has been shown to impact meat quality (Lee et al, 2014). As a member of the hedgehog-signaling pathway, BMP6 may be important in slow oxidative fiber clustering in pigs (Lee et al, 2014).…”

Detection of SNPs in the BMP6 Gene and Their Association with Carcass and Bone Traits in Chicken

“…At present, studies of BMP6 showed that it is more focused on human disease such as hepatic fibrosis, iron overload disease (Kleven et al, 2016), prostate cancer-associated disease (Turner and Edwards, 2016) and so on. Nevertheless, BMP6 was chose to be a candidate of meat quality (Lee et al, 2014).…”

A genome-wide association study of reproduction traits in four pig populations with different genetic backgrounds

“…Over the past 20 years, the dense genome coverage provided by high-throughput chip genotyping makes it possible to exploit the linkage disequilibrium (LD) between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and quantitative trait locus (QTL) through genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genes related to traits of interest. Several GWAS have been revealed significant associations for economically important traits such as reproduction traits [5], growth traits [6], meat traits [7], and feed conversion [8].…”