Genetic Links between Reproductive Traits and Amino Acid Pairwise Distances of Swine Leukocyte Antigen Alleles among Mating Partners in Microminipigs

Asako Ando, Tatsuya Matsubara, Shingo Suzuki, Noriaki Imaeda, Masaki Takasu, Atsuko Shigenari, Asuka Miyamoto, Shino Ohshima, Yoshie Kametani, Takashi Shiina, Jerzy K. Kulski, Hitoshi Kitagawa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Previously, we found that a greater dissimilarity in swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) class I and class II alleles between mating partners resulted in increased farrowing rates in a highly inbred population of Microminipigs (MMPs). In this follow-up study, we have analyzed the effects of dissimilarity in SLA alleles between mating partners for seven different reproductive traits, including litter size and the number of stillborn and live or dead weaned piglets. We determined the relationships among reproductive traits within each mating event and the amino acid distances of SLA alleles as markers of diversity between mating partners. Our results indicate that mating partners with greater amino acid pairwise genetic distances in the SLA-1 class I gene or DQB1 class II gene alleles were associated with significantly larger litter sizes and higher numbers of live piglets at birth and weaning. Also, partners with greater pairwise distances in the SLA-2 class I gene alleles exhibited fewer pre-weaning deaths. These findings suggest that the dissimilarity in SLA class I and class II alleles between mating partners may affect not only farrowing rates but also other key reproductive traits such as litter size and improved piglet survival rates. Consequently, SLA alleles could serve as valuable genetic markers for selecting mating partners in breeding programs and for conducting epistatic studies on various reproductive traits in MMPs.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7362
Number of pages13
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume25
Issue number13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2024

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