›› 2012, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (7): 179-183.

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Detection of the Polymorphism within Intron 8 of Prolactin Receptor Gene and its Association with Litter Size in Swine

SHI Jian-zhong1, LI Bu-gao2, CAO Guo-qing2   

  1. 1. Datong Pig Breeding Farm, Datong 037000,China;
    2. College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801,China
  • Received:2011-12-26 Online:2012-07-20 Published:2012-07-16

Abstract: The objective of this study was to detect the polymorphism of porcine prolactin receptor (PRLR) gene and analyze its association with litter size in swine, and to provide the basic knowledge for using PRLR gene as a genetic marker in marker assisted selection (MAS) for improving the reproduction performance in pig production. Polymorphisms of intron 8 of PRLR gene on 364 pigs from 6 breeds including Large White, Landrace, Duroc, Mashen pig, Shanxi Black pig and Shanxi White pig were tested by PCR-SSCP. Three alleles of A, B, C and six genotypes of AA, AB, AC, BB, BC and CC, were observed in examined populations. The A allele frequency was greater than those of B and C in Duroc (0.8276), Landrance (0.5439), Shanxi Black pig (0.5345), and Shanxi White pig (0.7669), whereas the B allele was superior to A and C in Large White (0.6894) and Mashen pig (0.7000). The C allele was in low frequency, ranged from 0.0379 to 0.1385, and only present in Large White, Shanxi Black pig and Shanxi White pig. Statistical analysis showed that PRLR genotype was significantly associated with total number born (TNB) (P<0.05) and was not associated with number born alive (NBA) at first parity. The TNB and NBA of heterozygote AC was significantly different from that of BC, whereas not significantly different from those of AA, AB and BB. The sows with A allele seems to had bigger TNB and NBA than those without allele A, which implied that the A allele was the favorable allele for improving sow’s litter size. The results of this work may provide the potential marker for the application in MAS for improving litter size in pig breeding and production.

Key words: pig; litter size; prolactin receptor gene; polymorphism; PCR-SSCP

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