Evaluation of coat color inheritance and production performance for crossbreed from Chinese indigenous Chenghua pig crossbred with Berkshire

Abstract

Objective:The present objective This work was to determine black coat inheritance and evaluate production performance for crossbreed F4 pigs from Berkshire × Chenghua (BC) comparison compared with Chinese indigenous Chenghua (CH) pigs. Methods:The coat color phenotypes were recorded for more than 16,000 pigs, and the genotypes of MC1R gene were identified by sequencing. The reproductive performance for of 927 crossbreed BC F4 gilts and 320 purebred CH gilts were was recorded. 60 Sixty pigs per of each breed were randomly selected at approximatelyabout 60 days of age to determine growth performance during fattening period, which lasted for 150 days for BC pigs and 240 days for CH pigs, respectively. At the end of the fattening period, 30 pigs of eachper breed were slaughtered to determine carcass-composition and meat quality. Results:The Ccoat color of BC pigs exhibits a "dominant black" hereditary pattern, and all piglets derived from boars or sows genotyped E D1 E D1 homozygous for MC1R gene showed a uniform black coat phenotype. The BC F4 gilts displayed a relatively good reproductive performance, showing a higher litter and tear size, and were heavier at farrowing litter and at weaning litter than the CH gilts, but they reached puberty later than the CH gilts. BC F4 pigs exhibited improved growth and carcass characteristics with a higher average daily live weight gain, lower feed-to-gain ratio, and higher carcass lean meat rate than CH pigs. Similar to those ofLike CH pigs, BC F4 pigs produced superior meat-quality characteristics, showing ideal pH and meat-color values, high intramuscular fat content and water-holding capacity, and acceptable muscle-fibrefiber parameters. C18:1, C16:0, C18:0, and C18:2 were the main fatty acids in M. longissimus lumborum in the two breeds, and a remarkablyvery high polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio of ~0.39 was observed in the BC F4 pigs. Conclusion:The BC F4 pigs exhibit a uniform black coat pattern and acceptable total production performance.

Comprehensive transcriptional analysis of pig facial skin development

“…Among them, most studies focus on large white pigs and there are few studies on local pigs in China ( Roth et al, 2022 ; Zhao et al, 2021 ). According to previous research, the Chenghua pig, a famous local pig breed in Southwest China, shows a specific skin thickness characteristic, and the thickest skin on its back can reach 8.0 mm and much higher than that of the foreign large white pig ( Li et al, 2022 ; Zou et al, 2022 ).…”

Performance of crossbred pigs with indigenous and Hampshire inheritance under a smallholder production system in the Eastern Himalayan hill region

“…However, there is a high supply–demand gap in pork due to less-productive pigs under the traditional backyard production system ( Mahajan et al, 2015 ). Crossbred pigs are superior on average than their purebred counterparts under harsh and diverse agro-climatic conditions ( Li et al, 2022 ). Crossbreeding programs take advantage of the effect of individual as well as maternal and paternal heterosis ( Versen et al, 2019 ).…”