Development of a genetic marker to identify crossbreds between domestic pigs and wild boar populations in Japan, based on melanocortin-4 receptor gene variation
2018
Yoshikawa, S. (Meiji University, Kawasaki, Kanagawa (Japan). Graduate School of Agriculture) | Mizoguchi, Y.
To investigate crossbreeding in wild boar populations in Japan, we assessed melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) gene variation. The missense mutation G/A in position 1426 is known to be related to backfat, growth rate, feed intake, and age at 100 kg weight in pigs. Many pig breeds have been investigated regarding this mutation, but no wild boars have been examined. We investigated local populations of two wild boar subspecies that inhabit Japan [Japanese wild boar (JWB; n=56) and Ryukyu wild boar (RWB; n=307)]. We found that the Iriomote RWB population had low frequencies of the A allele (0.031), whereas all the other JWB and RWB wild boar populations had only the G allele. The samples with the A allele were the same that were included in a domestic pig cluster in an earlier study using phylogenetic tree analysis (Murakami et al. 2014). Therefore, this mutation (MC4R c.1426G>A) might be a useful marker for detecting natural hybridization between domestic pigs and wild boars.
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