Genetic association between leg conformation in young pigs and sow reproduction

Le, Hong Thu; Nilsson, Katja; Norberg, E.; Lundeheim, N.

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2015.05.025

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Heritabilities for feet and legs were low to moderate (0.03 to 0.16) and similar to previous studies, although slightly different definition of the traits and scoring schemes were applied (e.g. Brandt et al, 2004;Le et al, 2015;Luther et al, 2007). The used data sets were fairly small, nevertheless feet and leg traits may respond to selection when traits will be included into the breeding program in future.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Based on the findings of the present study and further scientific literature an introduction of the above mentioned feet and leg traits into routine performance testing is recommended. Besides, Le et al (2015) showed that longevity was improved in sows with good feet and legs (ra = 0.24 to 0.88). In Austria's routine genetic evaluation for dairy cattle, several conformation traits are used as auxiliary traits for functional longevity because strong genetic correlations exist (Pfeiffer et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anil et al (2009) found that there were fewer live born piglets in litters from lame sows compared to sows showing no signs of lameness. Le et al (2015) estimated genetic correlations between eight feet, leg and toe traits and production traits of first and second parity purebred Yorkshire sows. The authors found positive genetic correlations between the number of live born piglets and sows with better feet, leg and toe scores (r a = 0.20 to 0.36).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetic Analysis of Feet and Leg Conformation and Proportion of Crushed Piglets in Austrian Large White and Landrace Sows

Pfeiffer¹,

Fuerst-Waltl²,

Schodl³

et al. 2019

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun.

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Selection for feet and leg traits can increase longevity as well as several performance traits in sows. Moreover, good feet and leg quality contributes improving animal welfare not only for sows, but also for piglets. Sows with feet and leg problems have a higher risk of crushing their piglets when lying down. Therefore, a feet and leg scoring scheme was derived and applied by trained assessors. Furthermore, piglet mortality rate by crushing was recorded. Genetic parameters as well as breeding values were estimated and the effect of the traits on piglet mortality rate by crushing was investigated. Data of 993 Large White and 299 Landrace sows of 23 nucleus farms were analyzed. Heritabilities ranged from 0.03 to 0.16 for piglet mortality rate by crushing and pastern fore legs. Some genetic correlations between feet and leg traits were significantly highly correlated (0.69 to 0.79). Sows with favorable scores for almost all feet and leg scores had higher estimated breeding values for piglet mortality rate. Higher values indicate less crushed piglets and are thus favorable. An introduction of a feet and leg scoring scheme into routine genetic evaluation may thus contribute to animal welfare improvement for sows and piglets.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetic Analysis of Feet and Leg Conformation and Proportion of Crushed Piglets in Austrian Large White and Landrace Sows

Pfeiffer¹,

Fuerst-Waltl²,

Schodl³

et al. 2019

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun.

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“…In fact, conformation traits have been included in breeding goals in almost all Nordic countries, with the aim of reducing lameness [6]. The evaluation of conformation traits has often been carried out subjectively by scoring gait and movement, leg and feet visual observations, and knee and pastern postures [5, 7]. In the literature, heritability estimates for leg conformation traits range from 0.01 to 0.37 [7–10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evaluation of conformation traits has often been carried out subjectively by scoring gait and movement, leg and feet visual observations, and knee and pastern postures [5, 7]. In the literature, heritability estimates for leg conformation traits range from 0.01 to 0.37 [7–10]. These low to moderate heritabilities suggest that faster genetic progress could be achieved by incorporating genetic marker information in the selection process rather than using a traditional pedigree-based selection scheme [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome-wide association study for conformation traits in three Danish pig breeds

Christensen

Nielsen

et al. 2017

Genet Sel Evol

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BackgroundSelection for sound conformation has been widely used as a primary approach to reduce lameness and leg weakness in pigs. Identification of genomic regions that affect conformation traits would help to improve selection accuracy for these lowly to moderately heritable traits. Our objective was to identify genetic factors that underlie leg and back conformation traits in three Danish pig breeds by performing a genome-wide association study followed by meta-analyses.MethodsData on four conformation traits (front leg, back, hind leg and overall conformation) for three Danish pig breeds (23,898 Landrace, 24,130 Yorkshire and 16,524 Duroc pigs) were used for association analyses. Estimated effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from single-trait association analyses were combined in two meta-analyses: (1) a within-breed meta-analysis for multiple traits to examine if there are pleiotropic genetic variants within a breed; and (2) an across-breed meta-analysis for a single trait to examine if the same quantitative trait loci (QTL) segregate across breeds. SNP annotation was implemented through Sus scrofa Build 10.2 on Ensembl to search for candidate genes.ResultsAmong the 14, 12 and 13 QTL that were detected in the single-trait association analyses for the three breeds, the most significant SNPs explained 2, 2.3 and 11.4% of genetic variance for back quality in Landrace, overall conformation in Yorkshire and back quality in Duroc, respectively. Several candidate genes for these QTL were also identified, i.e. LRPPRC, WRAP73, VRTN and PPARD likely control conformation traits through the regulation of bone and muscle development, and IGF2BP2, GH1, CCND2 and MSH2 can have an influence through growth-related processes. Meta-analyses not only confirmed many significant SNPs from single-trait analyses with higher significance levels, but also detected several additional associated SNPs and suggested QTL with possible pleiotropic effects.ConclusionsOur results imply that conformation traits are complex and may be partly controlled by genes that are involved in bone and skeleton development, muscle and fat metabolism, and growth processes. A reliable list of QTL and candidate genes was provided that can be used in fine-mapping and marker assisted selection to improve conformation traits in pigs.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12711-017-0289-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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