Abstract:

【Objective】 The aim of the experiment is to investigate the genetic variation of porcine prolactin (PRL) and prolactin receptor (PRLR) gene and its association with sow maternal infanticide behavior and litter size in a White Doruc × Erhulian F2 resource population.【Method】 g.1317T＞A, g.8905C＞T and g.9056C＞T of PRL gene and g.1217C＞T, g.1283C＞A, g.1439G＞A, g.1528G＞A and g.1600T＞A of PRLR gene were genotyped by SNaPshot in the F0, F1 individuals and 288 F2 sows. The association of these SNPs with sow maternal infanticide behavior and litter size was studied by transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) and least square method, respectively. 【Result】 The results of TDT analysis showed that neither alleles nor haplotypes have significant associations with maternal infanticide behavior in all genotyped SNP loci of PRL and PRLR gene. The results of association study with litter size showed that there were no significant associations of genotypes and haplotypes of five SNPs of PRLR gene with total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA), number still born (NBS), weaning number (WN) and weaning litter weight (WLW). But to PRL gene, three SNPs genotypes showed significant associations with TNB and NBA (P＜0.05). Individuals with haplotype ACC had extremely significant lower TNB (P = 0.0005) and NBA (P =0.001) than those with other haplotypes. TTT individuals had significant higher NBA than those of other haplotypes (P = 0.003). 【Conclusion】 PRL and PRLR gene had no significant associations with maternal infanticide behavior, but PRL gene significantly associated with TNB and NBA in the White Doruc × Erhulian F2 resource population.

Key words: PRLR, PRL, maternal infanticide, litter size traits