Detection of disease resistance and susceptibility alleles in pigs using oligonucleotide microarray hybridization

A multiplex DNA microarray chip aimed at the identification of allelic polymorphisms was developed for simultaneous detection of swine disease resistance genes underlying malignant hyperthermia ( RYR), postweaning diarrhea, edema disease ( FUT1), neonatal diarrhea ( MUC4), and influenza ( MX1). The on-chip detection was performed with fragmented polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–amplified products. Particular emphasis was placed on the reduction of the number of PCR reactions required. The targets were biotin labeled during the PCR reaction, and the arrays were detected using a colorimetric methodology. Target recognition was provided by specific capture probes designed for each susceptible or resistant allelic variant. Sequencing was chosen as the gold standard to assess chip accuracy. All genotypes retrieved from the microarray (476) fit with sequencing data despite the fact that each pig was heterozygote for at least 1 target gene.