This study characterized autochthonous pig breeds of Vietnam and compared them with breeds from other regions. A total of 343 animals were considered from 5 indigenous pig breeds of Vietnam (Muong Khuong, Co, Meo, Tap Na, and Mong Cai), 2 exotic breeds kept in Vietnam (Landrace and Yorkshire), 3 European commercial breeds (German Land-race, Piétrain, and Large White), the Chinese breed Meishan, and the European Wild Boar. Each individual was genotyped for 20 selected polymorphic microsatellite loci. The Vietnamese autochthonous breeds showed higher degrees of polymorphism, allelic diversity, and heterozygosity than the other pig breeds. Also, large genetic diversity was observed across the area of distribution, with village-specific subpopulations, which led to significant inbreeding coefficients. As expected, genetic distances showed large differences among European-based, Chinese, and Vietnamese indigenous breeds and reflected the geographical distribution of breeds. In comparison with the European breeds, the Vietnamese indigenous pig breeds harbored a considerable amount of genetic diversity and, therefore, will be of significance for livestock bioconservation.

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The objectives of this study were to analyse genotype distribution and sequence variations of candidate genes putatively associated with meat quality and disease resistance in exotic and indigenous Vietnamese pig breeds. For this purpose, 340 pigs from four indigenous and two exotic breeds were included in the analysis of the polymorphisms of the heart fatty-acid-binding protein (H-FABP), alpha 1 fucosyltransferase (FUT1), and bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) genes by the sequencing and PCR-RFLP methods. For H-FABP, 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected in indigenous pig breeds by direct sequencing of a fragment at intron 2 of the H-FABP gene. The mutation T1556C created a new restriction site for the enzyme MspI, which gave rise to new allelic variants in three indigenous pig breeds. In indigenous breeds, the frequency of the favourable alleles a and d at MspI and HaeIII sites of the H-FABP gene were low. Meanwhile, the frequency of the d allele at the HaeIII site in exotic breeds was significantly higher than those of indigenous pig breeds. No mutation was found in the RFLP-fragment of the FUT1 gene of four indigenous pig breeds by sequencing, while in the BPI gene two mutations were detected in the Tap Na breed. The resistant alleles of the FUT1 and BPI genes in the exotic breeds were significantly higher than those of indigenous pig breeds. Among the indigenous pig breeds, the Tap Na breed possessed a higher frequency of the resistant allele G of BPI gene than the remaining breeds. The T1556C mutation at H-FABP may be important for the genetic improvement of intramuscular fat content and breed. Tap Na may be a source of resistant alleles for local ecologies.

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