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The study aimed at evaluating how sires, classified for their additive genetic effects on residual feed intake (RFI) of ad libitum-fed progeny, influence growth performance, tissue accretion, and gain composition in restricted-fed offspring (96–168 kg body weight, BW). A total of 416 purebred C21 Goland pigs, offspring of 23 sires, were randomly allocated to three feeding groups: ad libitum, restricted medium-protein, or restricted low-protein. Empty BW, body lipid mass and body protein mass were estimated from individual BW and backfat measures using literature equations. Residuals of a linear regression of average daily feed intake on average empty BW, body lipid and protein daily gains were used as estimates of individual RFI in ad libitum-fed pigs. Additive genetic effects of sires on RFI of ad libitum-fed pigs were estimated with a linear animal model and solutions of the model were used to allocate the sires to low- (LRFI), medium- (MRFI), or high-RFI (HRFI) groups. Restricted-fed progeny of LRFI sires exhibited reduced average daily feed intake (-3%) compared to MRFI and HRFI progeny. This indicates that LRFI progeny make a more efficient use of energy intake and implies that variation in RFI across families, assessed under ad libitum feeding, is related to the across-family variation in feed efficiency detected under restricted feeding. LRFI progeny exhibited also a lower feed conversion ratio (-11%), partially resulting from of a 3% increase in growth rate compared with HRFI. Thus, LRFI progeny consumed less feed, while growing at a similar or slightly higher rate than MRFI or HRFI. No significant differences across sire classes were observed for daily tissue accretion and gain composition. Hence, we can hypothesise that efficient sires would not affect carcass leanness of heavy pig progeny fed restricted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs) located in the calpain 1, ( mu / I) large subunit ( CAPN1), calpastatin ( CAST), and cathepsin D ( CTSD) genes were analyzed in a large sample of Piemontese cattle. The aim of this study was to evaluate allele and genotype frequencies of these SNPs and to investigate associations of CAPN1, CAST, and CTSD gene variants with meat quality traits. Minor allele frequencies ranged from 30 to 48%. The presence of the A allele at CAPN530 increased yellowness and drip loss. The CAST282 G allele was associated with an increased drip loss compared to the C allele, and the CAST2959 A allele decreased redness compared to the G allele. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissecting the genetics of production traits in livestock is of outmost importance, both to understand biological mechanisms underlying those traits and to facilitate the design of selection programs incorporating that information. For the pig industry, traits related to curing are key for protected designation of origin productions. In particular, appropriate ham weight loss after dry-curing ensures high quality of the final product and avoids economic losses. In this study, we analyzed data (N = 410) of ham weight loss after approximately 20 months of dry-curing. The animals used for ham production were purebred pigs belonging to a commercial line. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,844 SNP markers revealed the polygenic nature of the trait: 221 loci explaining a small percentage of the variance (0.3-1.65%) were identified on almost all Sus scrofa chromosomes. Post-GWAS analyses revealed 32 windows located within regulatory regions and 94 windows located in intronic regions of specific genes. In total, 30 candidate genes encoding receptors and enzymes associated with ham weight loss ( MTHFD1L, DUSP8 ), proteolysis ( SPARCL1, MYH8 ), drip loss ( TNNI2 ), growth ( CDCA3, LSP1, CSMD1, AP2A2, TSPAN4 ), and fat metabolism ( AGPAT4, IGF2R, PTDSS2, HRAS, TALDO1, BRSK2, TNNI2, SYT8, GTF2I, GTF2IRD1, LPCAT3, ATN1, GNB3, CMIP, SORCS2, CCSER1, SPP1 ) were detected.