Swine Research Unit, Agroscope Posieux, Posieux, Switzerland.
J Anim Breed Genet. 2020 Nov;137(6):545-558. doi: 10.1111/jbg.12472. Epub 2020 Mar 20.
Pig production contributes to environmental pollution through excretion of phosphorus and nitrogenous compounds. European pig production requires annual imports of currently 36 million tons of soya bean, because domestic plant protein sources often do not meet the required protein quality. Most of the mineral phosphate sources are also imported. It is therefore desirable to improve nutrient deposition efficiency through selective breeding, that is to realise similar growth rates and carcass compositions as currently achieved but with a lower intake of dietary crude protein or phosphate. For a preliminary evaluation of the potential of selecting for increased nutrient deposition efficiency, we estimated genetic parameters for nitrogen and phosphorus efficiencies in a Swiss Large White pig population including 294 individuals. Nutrient efficiency phenotypes were obtained from wet-chemistry analyses of pigs of various live weights. Heritability of nitrogen efficiency was estimated at 41%. Heritability of phosphorus efficiency was very low (0.3%), but positive genetic correlations with nitrogen efficiency suggest that breeding for nitrogen efficiency would positively affect phosphorus efficiency. Further studies are needed to improve the quality of estimates and to obtain accurate high-throughput measures of nutrient efficiency to be implemented on farms.
养猪生产通过排泄磷和含氮化合物对环境污染有贡献。欧洲的养猪生产需要每年进口目前 3600 万吨的大豆，因为国内植物蛋白源往往不能满足所需的蛋白质质量。大多数矿物磷酸盐来源也需要进口。因此，通过选择性繁殖来提高营养沉积效率是可取的，也就是说，要实现与目前相同的生长速度和胴体组成，但需要降低日粮粗蛋白或磷酸盐的摄入量。为了初步评估选择提高营养沉积效率的潜力，我们估计了瑞士大白猪群体中氮和磷效率的遗传参数，该群体包括 294 个个体。营养效率表型是通过对不同体重的猪进行湿法化学分析获得的。氮效率的遗传力估计为 41%。磷效率的遗传力非常低（0.3%），但与氮效率的正遗传相关性表明，选择氮效率的繁殖将对磷效率产生积极影响。需要进一步研究来提高估计的质量，并获得农场实施的准确、高通量的营养效率衡量标准。
