Association of porcine estrogen receptor locus variation with litter size in Yorkshire swine

摘要

This study was conducted to investigate a possible association of the porcine estrogen receptor(ER) locus with the total number of born(TNB) and number of born alive(NBA) in Yorkshire pigs. Using DNAs extracted from 61 Yorkshire pigs, the ER genotypewas determined by PCR-RFLP and Southern blot analysis. The ER allele frequencies of two types of A and B were 0.38 and 0.62, respectively. The least squares means of the litter size per ER genotypes were evaluated. The TNB and NBA were found to be associated with an specific ER allele. To estimate the quantitative effects of the different ER genotypes more accurately, a linear regression analysis was performed. The regression coefficients for ER genotypes were statistically significant, and the additive effect of ER locus was detected. The genotype at the porcine ER locus has an application potential for marker-assisted selection for litter size in pigs.