Study on the association between estrogen receptor gene (ESR) and reproduction traits in Landrace pigs.
To study the potential use of estrogen receptor gene (ESR) as a genetic marker to improve the reproductive traits of pigs, the genotypes of the ESR PCR product digested by Pvu II were determined in 2,239 litters from 612 Landrace sows. The data of the first, second, and later parities were separately evaluated. Although the frequency of the B allele was much lower than that of the A allele, likelihood ratio test showed that the gene frequencies were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The effects of ESR of different parities were not equal. In summary, the sows with the BB genotype showed better performance for total number of piglets born (TNB) and number of piglets born alive (NBA), but had a lower average piglet weight at birth (AWB). It was concluded that ESR could be used as a marker for the selection of litter size in the Landrace population.
Wu
Zhen-Fang
ZF
College ofAnimal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou.
Liu
De-Wu
DW
Wang
Qing-Lai
QL
Zeng
Hai-Yu
HY
Chen
Yao-Shen
YS
Zhang
Hao
H
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000235:genetics; D004967:Estrogens / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D008098:Litter Size / Q000235:genetics; D011247:Pregnancy; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000235:genetics*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics*; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000235:genetics*
D004967:Estrogens; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen