BackgroundAt present the Croatian Turopolje pig population comprises about 157 breeding animals. In Austria, 324 Turopolje pigs originating from six Croatian founder animals are registered. Multiple bottlenecks have occurred in this population, one major one rather recently and several more older and moderate ones. In addition, it has been subdivided into three subpopulations, one in Austria and two in Croatia, with restricted gene flow. These specificities explain the delicate situation of this endangered Croatian lard-type pig breed.MethodsIn order to identify candidate breeding animals or gene pools for future conservation breeding programs, we studied the genetic diversity and population structure of this breed using microsatellite data from 197 individuals belonging to five different breeds.ResultsThe genetic diversity of the Turopolje pig is dramatically low with observed heterozygosities values ranging from 0.38 to 0.57. Split into three populations since 1994, two genetic clusters could be identified: one highly conserved Croatian gene pool in Turopoljski Lug and the"Posavina" gene pool mainly present in the Austrian population. The second Croatian subpopulation in Lonjsko Polje in the Posavina region shows a constant gene flow from the Turopoljski Lug animals.ConclusionsOne practical conclusion is that it is necessary to develop a "Posavina" boar line to preserve the "Posavina" gene pool and constitute a corresponding population in Croatia. Animals of the highly inbred herd in Turopoljski Lug should not be crossed with animals of other populations since they represent a specific phenotype-genotype combination. However to increase the genetic diversity of this herd, a program to optimize its sex ratio should be carried out, as was done in the Austrian population where the level of heterozygosity has remained moderate despite its heavy bottleneck in 1994.

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Autochthonous pig breeds are usually reared in extensive or semi-extensive production systems that might facilitate contact with wild boars and, thus, reciprocal genetic exchanges. In this study, we analysed variants in the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene (which cause different coat colour phenotypes) and in the nuclear receptor subfamily 6 group A member 1 (NR6A1) gene (associated with increased vertebral number) in 712 pigs of 12 local pig breeds raised in Italy (Apulo-Calabrese, Casertana, Cinta Senese, Mora Romagnola, Nero Siciliano and Sarda) and south-eastern European countries (Kr skopolje from Slovenia, Black Slavonian and Turopolje from Croatia, Mangalitsa and Moravka from Serbia and East Balkan Swine from Bulgaria) and compared the data with the genetic variability at these loci investigated in 229 wild boars from populations spread in the same macro-geographic areas. None of the autochthonous pig breeds or wild boar populations were fixed for one allele at both loci. Domestic and wild-type alleles at these two genes were present in both domestic and wild populations. Findings of the distribution of MC1R alleles might be useful for tracing back the complex genetic history of autochthonous breeds. Altogether, these results indirectly demonstrate that bidirectional introgression of wild and domestic alleles is derived and affected by the human and naturally driven evolutionary forces that are shaping the Sus scrofa genome: autochthonous breeds are experiencing a sort of 'dedomestication' process, and wild resources are challenged by a 'domestication' drift. Both need to be further investigated and managed.

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The aim of this study was to investigate consumers' preferences of Livanjski cheese depending on the type of milk (cow's milk or a mixture of sheep's and cow's milk) and the originality of production (farm or industrially produced). Also correlations between sensorial scores and the composition of Livanjski cheese were determined. Sixty day old Livanjski cheese samples produced on four family farms and under industrial conditions produced cheese were used for sensory evaluation. During the cheese sampling every producer was visited regularly (every two weeks) to evaluate the ripening conditions of the cheeses (temperature, relative air humidity and ventilation). Sensory evaluation was performed by 160 consumers and 6 experts. Cheese from farm 1 received the highest scores (P<0.05) in general and for every single attribute as well. The production of Livanjski cheese on farm 1 was distinct due to mixing sheep's and cow's milk (70:30 %) and due to good controlled ripening conditions (15-18 °C, relative air humidity 80-90 %, regular air ventilation). Sheep's milk was an important factor for the higher scoring of Livanjski cheese. In opposite to the consumers' preference, experts evaluated industrially produced Livanjski cheese with the highest score. Significantly high and negative correlations (P<0.05) between total solids of cheese and scores for taste and odour judged by experts were obtained. Moreover, significantly higher and negative correlations (P<0.05) between the total solids of cheese and all sensorial attributes were obtained by consumers. On the contrary, preserving factors i.e. higher salt content and acidity positively influenced the sensory attributes of Livanjski cheese.