%0 Journal Article
%T Association and haplotype analysis of candidate genes in five genomic regions linked to sow maternal infanticide in a white Duroc กม Erhualian resource population
%A Congying Chen
%A Zhuqing Yang
%A Yanying Li
%A Na Wei
%A Pinghua Li
%A Yuanmei Guo
%A Jun Ren
%A Nengshui Ding
%A Lusheng Huang
%J BMC Genetics
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2156-12-24
%X Microsatellite markers on pig chromosome (SSC) 2, 13, 15, and X displayed significance at P < 0.05 by both TDT and NPL. Of the seven candidate genes, three ESR2 SNPs had nominal evidence for association (P < 0.05). Allele A at EAAT2 g. 233G > A and allele T at DRD1 g.1013C > G > T also showed evidence of overtransmission to infanticidal sows. In the overall tests of association of haplotypes, candidate genes of ESR2, EAAT2 and DRD1 achieved overall significance level (P < 0.05). Haplotype [A; A; G], [G; A; G], [A; G; G] and [C; C], respectively, from ESR2, EAAT2 and DRD1 showed higher frequencies to infanticidal sows (P < 0.05). Alleles among haplotypes and SNPs which showed an overtransmission to infanticidal sows were from White Duroc.From association tests of SNPs and haplotypes, ESR2, EAAT2 and DRD1 showed significant associations with maternal infanticide. This result supported the existence of QTL for maternal infanticide behavior on SSC1, SSC2 and SSC16.Sows normally exhibit a series of maternal behaviors around parturition, but failure to establish normal maternal bonds with their newborn offspring occurs in some sows. An extreme behavior is maternal infanticide which is defined as an active attack of piglets that results in serious or fatal bite wounds around parturition or within 24 hours after parturition. From surveys of large commercial pig farms in Europe, the incidence of maternal infanticide was 8% [1] or 7-12% [2]. The incidence in primiparous sows is as high as 10-13% [2,3]. It not only brings a big economic loss to the pig industry, but also leads to poor animal welfare of piglets.The aetiology of maternal infanticide in pigs is not clear. Environment, hormonal, parturition experience and genetic factors are all associated with maternal infanticide. The heritability of maternal infanticide differs between estimates of daughter/sire (0.12 - 0.25) and daughter/dam (0.5 - 0.9) [2]. It ranges between 0.4 and 0.9 and shows significant additive genetic
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2156/12/24