GWAS in Swine

The pig is an important domestic animal that provides a large amount of meat and is also a biomedical animal model for humans. As a major agricultural nation, the United States is the world's largest exporter of pork. The development of contemporary pig farming is closely linked to modern genomic association studies. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have significantly contributed to the development of pig farming and increased production of high-quality food as sequencing-based GWAS can help identify causal associations between genetic variation and traits. BioVenic is a company specializing in animal health and animal-related research and development and has been providing GWAS services in swine to clients worldwide for many years. With a dedicated technical team and advanced platform, our company provides customized GWAS services in swine to help clients overcome their difficulties.

GWAS for Analysis of Disease-associated Genes in Swine

GWAS is a powerful tool for analyzing disease or susceptibility. With the development of sequencing technologies, GWAS is increasingly being used to analyze disease-related genes in pigs, such as CXCL6, CXCL8, KIT, and CTBP2 genes located on SSC 2, 8, 12, and 14 for porcine respiratory diseases, TNK2, ZNF148, HEG1, MUC13, and ITGB5 for porcine E. coli F4ab/F4ac infection and the loci at 44.25 MB on SSC2 and the loci at 45.90 MB on SSC17 for porcine umbilical hernia, as well as 61 SNPs for immune characteristics of pigs.

GWAS for Analysis of Genes Associated with Unique Traits in Swine

GWAS have become a very effective and widely used method for identifying genetic variants associated with complex traits across the genome, such as lumbar number, head, and facial features, the onset of puberty gilts, and meat quality.

Lumbar Number

The number of vertebrae and loin circumference is an important parameter related to carcass length and varies between breeds. A GWAS of the total number of thoracolumbar vertebrae has identified 38 significant SNPs in two QTL regions located on SSC1 and SSC7. 72 significant SNPs are located on SSC7 in a GWAS of thoracic vertebrae number only, while 17 significant SNPs are identified on SSC1 for lumbar vertebrae only.

Head and Facial Features

Head and facial features are closely associated with identity in mammalian communication. Using GWAS, 3 pleiotropic loci are detected, including the loci at 298.1 Mb on SSC1 for head length and the distance from the low corner of the eye to the snout end (DES), the loci at 80.0 Mb on SSC4 for head weight, tongue weight and length, and the loci at 34.8 Mb on SSC7 for head weight, the size of extra mouth cleft (EMC) and lip thickness.

The Onset of Puberty Gilts

The selection of sows with the early onset of puberty has a favorable effect on fertility. A total of 2339 SNPs associated with pubertal reproductive disorders are identified in a 30.94-40.74 Mb region on SSC7 through GWAS.

Meat Quality

Meat quality is crucial to the marketing and production of pork. By GWAS, the 11 SNPs reach genomic significance levels, including 1 on SSC3 for pH, 1 on SSC3 and 3 on SSC15 for drip loss, 3 on SSC9 for color, and 2 on SSCX for IMF.

Our Services

Based on the theoretical basis of the law of linkage disequilibrium, GWAS is an effective tool for animal breeding by detecting genetic variation (marker) polymorphisms in multiple individuals at the genome-wide level for phenotyping and performing population-level statistical analysis to uncover genes associated with complex traits. As one of the major economic animals, swine are vital to the food industry worldwide, and GWAS for phenotypic and genotypic linkage can contribute to the breeding and propagation of improved pig strains. BioVenic has been involved in animal breeding research for many years and can provide professional and high-quality GWAS services in swine to our customers. In addition, with a dedicated and experienced bioinformatics team, we offer clients customized data analysis services to facilitate pig breeding projects.

Workflow of GWAS

Want to Learn More?

BioVenic has been working on GWAS in swine for many years and has accumulated a wealth of experience in data collection and data analysis to provide professional GWAS solutions in swine to our clients. If you are interested in our services, please contact us and tell us more about your project.