Genomic Scanning of Inbreeding Depression for Litter Size in Two Varieties of Iberian Pigs

Genes (Basel). 2023 Oct 15;14(10):1941. doi: 10.3390/genes14101941.

Abstract

Inbreeding depression is expected to be more pronounced in fitness-related traits, such as pig litter size. Recent studies have suggested that the genetic determinism of inbreeding depression may be heterogeneous across the genome. Therefore, the objective of this study was to conduct a genomic scan of the whole pig autosomal genome to detect the genomic regions that control inbreeding depression for litter size in two varieties of Iberian pigs (Entrepelado and Retinto). The datasets consisted of 2069 (338 sows) and 2028 (327 sows) records of litter size (Total Number Born and Number Born Alive) for the Entrepelado and Retinto varieties. All sows were genotyped using the Geneseek GGP PorcineHD 70 K chip. We employed the Unfavorable Haplotype Finder software to extract runs of homozygosity (ROHs) and conducted a mixed-model analysis to identify highly significant differences between homozygous and heterozygous sows for each specific ROH. A total of eight genomic regions located on SSC2, SSC5, SSC7, SSC8, and SSC13 were significantly associated with inbreeding depression, housing some relevant genes such as FSHR, LHCGR, CORIN, AQP6, and CEP120.

Keywords: Iberian pig; inbreeding depression; litter size.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Female
  • Genome
  • Genomics
  • Genotype
  • Inbreeding Depression* / genetics
  • Litter Size / genetics
  • Pregnancy
  • Swine / genetics

Grants and funding

This research was partially funded by grants CGL2016-80155-R, PID2020-114705RB-I00 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación), and IDI-20170304 (CDTI). Srihi received funding from the European Union’s H2020 research and innovation program under a Marie Sklodowska–Curie grant agreement, No. 801586.