Effects of Myogenic Factor 5 (MYF5) Gene on Carcass and Meat Quality of Mong Cai Pigs

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of Myogenic Factor 5 gene (MYF5) on carcass and meat quality of Mong Cai pigs. PCR-RFLP was applied to genotype 100 animals at three loci defined as MYF5/Hin1II,
MYF5/HaeIII and MYF5/MspI. Results showed that MC pigs had two genotypes at each locus namely CD and DD,EF and EE, and GH and HH for the MYF5/Hin1II, MYF5/HaeIII and MYF5/MspI loci, respectively. The frequencies of DD, EE and HH were predominant (0.78-0.94) in the population. In addition, association analysis of three loci revealed that animals carrying CD genotype provided higher dressing percentage (70.30 vs. 67.32%) and loin weight (841 vs. 787 g) than those of DD genotype; however, these DD pigs had lower compression force value (4.91 vs. 5.79
kg). The other two polymorphisms were completely linked and no significant association was found with carcass and meat quality traits. Furthermore, the constructed haplotypes were identified to associate with hot carcass and dressing weight, of which the highest values were in CDEEHH pigs. These results suggested that the MYF5/Hin1II polymorphism was valuable for some carcass traits and compression force, but on the basis of this polymorphism, a simultaneous selection for these traits in MC pig remained a difficult task.