Swine

Genetic and Genomic Analyses of Vulva Size Traits in Landrace and Yorkshire Gilts

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize the genetic basis of vulva size (VS). Heritability estimates for vulva area (VA), vulva height (VH), and vulva width (VW) in Landrace were low to moderate, with 0.22, 0.29, and 0.10, respectively, whereas these were moderate to high in Yorkshire, with 0.50, 0.58, 0.33, respectively. For Landrace, we identified a common genomic region on chromosome (chr) 2 (154-157 Mb) associated with VA, VH, and VW. For VA and VH, common genomic regions were identified on chr 7 (107-110 Mb) and 10 (8-19 Mb). For VA and VW, a common genomic region was identified on chr 8 (4-6 Mb). In Yorkshire gilts, we found a common region on chr 1 (282-287 Mb) for VA, VH, and VW. Other regions were found for VH on chr 1 (87- 91 Mb) and 5 (67 Mb). Genomic prediction accuracies (GPA) were moderate in Landrace, with 0.47, 0.32, and 0.35, whereas lower accuracies were obtained for Yorkshire, with 0.14, 0.19 and 0.07 for VA, VH, and VW, respectively. Results suggest that selection for VS traits is possible and genetic markers can increase genetic gains for these traits in pre-pubertal gilts.

How to Cite:

Keating, A. F., Ross, J. W., Serão, N. V., Corredor, F., Sanglard, L. P. & Leach, R. J., (2019) “Genetic and Genomic Analyses of Vulva Size Traits in Landrace and Yorkshire Gilts”, Iowa State University Animal Industry Report 16(1).