Follistatin gene as a genetic marker for reproductive and performance traits in pigs
OwnerCharlotte Bloweinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are genetic markers for overall pig reproductive traits, including litter size, number born alive, number weaned, weaning weight, and number of stillborns, and performance traits, including days to reach 250 lbs., average daily gain, and feed to gain conversion, methods for identifying such markers, and methods of screening pigs to determine those more or less likely to possess these favorable reproductive and performance traits and more or less likely to produce litters with offspring who also have that same genetic ability to have these desirable traits and preferably selecting those pigs for future breeding purposes. The markers are based upon the presence or absence of certain polymorphisms in the pig follistatin gene.
Claims24
Genetic mutations within the porcine follistatin gene which have been found to be associated with overall reproductive performance and growth traits in pigs.
A method of screening pigs to determine those more likely to produce larger litters, possess other desirable reproductive traits and grow more efficiently and produce offspring also possessing those same abilities, which is comprised of:
- obtaining a sample of genetic material from a pig and analyzing the genomic material obtained in (i) to determine which follistatin (FS) allele(s) is/are present in said sample.
The method for identifying a polymorphism for pig reproductive and growth traits comprising the steps of:
- determining the reproductive and growth traits of each animal, determining the polymorphism in the follistatin gene of each pig wherein the polymorphism is identifiable by amplification by a set of primers selected from the group consisting of the set of a forward primer SEQ ID NO:
- 1 and reverse primer SEQ ID NO:
- 2 or the set of a forward primer SEQ ID NO:
- 3 and reverse primer SEQ ID NO:
- 4, and associating the reproductive and performance traits of each pig with said polymorphism thereby identifying a polymorphism for pig reproductive and growth traits.
The method for determining the presence of a polymorphic site in the follistatin gene which is associated with favorable reproductive and growth traits in pigs comprising:
- obtaining genetic samples from male and female pigs of the same breed, or breed cross, or derived from similar genetic lineages grown under normal conditions, determining reproductive traits of each pig from which a genetic sample was obtained, analyzing the genetic samples for polymorphisms in a gene associated with favorable reproductive and growth characteristics wherein the gene is the follistatin gene wherein the polymorphisms are identifiable by amplification by a set of primers selected from the group consisting of the set of a forward primer SEQ ID NO:
- 1 and reverse primer SEQ ID NO:
- 2 or the set of a forward primer SEQ ID NO:
- 3 and reverse primer SEQ ID NO:
- 4 or a comparable set of primers, performing an appropriate restriction digest or similar analysis to determine which FS alleles are present, and correlating the polymorphism(s) to reproductive and growth traits by comparing the presence of polymorphisms to each animals' records.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.