Evaluation of gonadal macroscopic and microscopic morphometry reveals precocious puberty in Bísaro pig

Abstract

Bísaro pig (BP) population has grown in numbers in the last decade, representing today one of the most important Portuguese livestock breeds (Paixao et al., 2018). Yet, the high-end cured products, which drove this growth, no longer represent the major production of this breed. Difficulties to comply with EU welfare regulations are being pointed out as the main factor involved in this phenomenon. This is especially important when it refers to surgical castration restrictions introduced by the Council Directive 2008/120/EC from December 2008, specifying that surgical castration of pigs shall only be performed with prolonged analgesia and/or anaesthesia. Comprising a large number of smallholders and free-range farms (Paixao et al., 2018), Bísaro producers face many handling constraints to rear young animals up to 14 months of age for cured meat products. Rearing entire animals, with modified feedstuff or improved genetics to lower androstenone and skatole levels in the carcase and thus boar taint, could be pointed as an alternative to physical castration (Backus et al., 2016; Heyrman et al., 2018). Yet, these strategies are less reliable in animals of such age. In local breeds with no consistent breeding programs immunocastration is also suggested as valid alternative to surgical castration (De Briyne et al., 2016; Prunier et al., 2006) even though the effectiveness of this method is yet to prove in

Identification and Characterization of lncRNA and mRNA in Testes of Landrace and Hezuo Boars

“…Histological analysis showed that diameter of the seminiferous tube, lumen area, number of Leydig, and Sertoli and germ cells were larger in 30-day-old and 120-day-old HZ boar than those of LC boar of the same age, and sperm were observed in 120-day-old HZ boar ( Figure 1 ). HZ boar underwent puberty development at an earlier stage than LC boar and demonstrated early sexual maturity, which is consistent with some other local pig breeds (such as Bísaro pig [ 49 ], Meishan pig [ 6 ]).…”

Regulatory Effects of the Kiss1 Gene in the Testis on Puberty and Reproduction in Hezuo and Landrance Boars

“…The values of morphological parameters (the perimeter and area of the tubular lumen) in HZ boars were greater than those in LC boars in the 1 M, 3 M, 4 M, and 6 M groups, suggesting that seminiferous tubular lumen appears earlier in HZ boars than in LC boars. In conclusion, histological analyses revealed that Chinese HZ boars have an earlier onset of puberty and earlier testicular development compared to LC boars [33], which is in agreement with other indigenous porcine breeds [36,37].…”

Long-Term Immunocastration Protocols Successfully Reduce Testicles’ Size in Bísaro Pigs

“…Absolute dimensions from in vivo and post-mortem measurements were compared to the expected pubertal dimensions of this specific breed [32]. Eleven animals were kept as intact males throughout the whole experiment (GrpC; n = 11) to establish age-match scrotal dimensions.…”

“…The Bísaro pig is one of the most representative Portuguese autochthonous breeds [29,30] and is known for its robustness and reported meat quality [31]. The BP is sexually precocious, reaching puberty between 14 and 17 weeks old [32]. If intended for the industry of cured value-added products, it is mainly reared up to 13 months old.…”