Advances in Pig Genetic and Genomic Breeding of 2024

A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2024 | Viewed by 966

Special Issue Editors

Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Physiology and Metabolism, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China
Interests: pig genetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Interests: animal pan-genome; animal genetics; gene mapping; trait dissection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Due to its great application value, the selective breeding of pigs has been carried out since the beginning of the 20th century by identifying the genetic foundations for economic traits. The completion of multiple pig genome projects has constructed a comprehensive list of pig genes. Moreover, a large number of genes and loci have been discovered in pigs. However, years of extensive research have demonstrated that not many major genes or loci can be used for breeding. The genetic mechanisms and genomics of pigs are still the main focus.

Therefore, this Special Issue aims to focus on the genetic mechanisms of economic traits, such as reproductive performance, growth rate, intestinal digestibility (feed to meat ratio), meat-producing performance, meat quality, disease resistance, and others among different porcine varieties or strains. Moreover, we aim to analyze the genetic mechanisms and molecular regulatory networks of pig economic traits at the DNA, RNA, proteins, and chromatin levels using multiple methods, such as transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, monocytomics, and multi-omics joint analysis.

In addition, mining new candidate genes and detecting genetic loci for economic traits will also be considered. Meanwhile, the role and contribution of genes and molecular makers for the formation of economic traits will be discussed.

Finally, the application of genes and loci in marker-assisted selection and the genome-wide selection of pigs will be of great concern to this Special Issue.

Dr. Kang Xu
Dr. Kejun Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pig genome
  • pig breeding
  • multi-omics
  • economic traits
  • molecular maker

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 5558 KiB  
Article
Mechanism of Apoptosis in Porcine Ovarian Granulosa Cells Triggered by T-2 Toxin
by Yige Chen, Xianrui Zheng, Ren Zhou, Huibin Zhang, Yangguang Liu, Xiaojing Hu and Zongjun Yin
Genes 2024, 15(5), 579; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/genes15050579 - 01 May 2024
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Abstract
T-2 toxin (T-2), an A-type mono mycotoxin produced by various Fusarium species, disrupts DNA/RNA and protein synthesis upon entering the body, resulting in pathological conditions in various tissues/organs and posing a significant threat to human and animal health. However, the mechanisms underlying its [...] Read more.
T-2 toxin (T-2), an A-type mono mycotoxin produced by various Fusarium species, disrupts DNA/RNA and protein synthesis upon entering the body, resulting in pathological conditions in various tissues/organs and posing a significant threat to human and animal health. However, the mechanisms underlying its toxicity remain unclear. With the goal of learning how T-2 affects reproduction in animals, we utilized primary porcine ovarian granulosa cells (pGCs) as a carrier in vitro and constructed concentration models for analyzing cell morphology and RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). Our findings showed that T-2 could influence pGCs morphology, induce cell cycle arrest, and promote apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. The results of RNA-seq analyses indicated that a total of 8216 genes exhibited significant differential expression (DEG) following T-2 treatment, of which 4812 were observed to be down-regulated and 3404 were up-regulated. The DEGs following T-2 toxin treatment of pGCs had a notable impact on many metabolic pathways such as PI3K-Akt, Ras, MAPK, and apoptosis, which in turn altered important physiological processes. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) indicated that the differences in the harmful effects of T-2 might be caused by the varying control of cellular processes and the pathway responsible for steroid metabolism. These results present further insights regarding the mechanism of T-2 action on sow reproductive toxicity, enhance our understanding of T-2 reproductive toxicological effects, and lay a theoretical foundation for the judicious prevention of T-2-induced reproductive toxicity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Pig Genetic and Genomic Breeding of 2024)
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11 pages, 1273 KiB  
Article
Detection and Analysis of Genes Affecting the Number of Thoracic Vertebrae in Licha Black Pigs
by Yuan Wang, Min Wang, Xiaojin He, Ruilan Dong, Hongjiang Liu and Guanghui Yu
Genes 2024, 15(4), 477; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/genes15040477 - 10 Apr 2024
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Abstract
The number of thoracic vertebrae (NTV) in pigs is an important economic trait that significantly influences pork production. While the Licha black pig is a well-known Chinese pig breed with multiple thoracic vertebrae, the genetic mechanism is still unknown. Here, we performed a [...] Read more.
The number of thoracic vertebrae (NTV) in pigs is an important economic trait that significantly influences pork production. While the Licha black pig is a well-known Chinese pig breed with multiple thoracic vertebrae, the genetic mechanism is still unknown. Here, we performed a selective signal analysis on the genome of Licha black pigs, comparing individuals with 15 NTV versus those with 16 NTV to better understand functional genes associated with NTV. A total of 2265 selection signal regions were detected across the genome, including 527 genes and 1073 QTL that overlapped with the selection signal regions. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that LRP5 and SP5 genes were involved in biological processes such as bone morphogenesis and Wnt protein binding. Furthermore, three genes, LRP8, DEF6, and SCUBE3, associated with osteoblast differentiation and bone formation, were located within or close to the QTL related to bone development and vertebrae number. These five genes were hypothesized to be potential candidates for regulating the NTV trait in Licha black pigs. Our findings revealed several candidate genes that play crucial roles in NTV regulation and provide a theoretical foundation to understand the genetic mechanism of the NTV trait in pig breeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Pig Genetic and Genomic Breeding of 2024)
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