Bai Chunyan, Fei Junwen, Zhang Xiaoran, Liu Wuyang, Ke Juan, Chen Changyi, He Yu, Liang Shuang, Sun Boxing, Sun Hao
College of Animal Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China.
Biology (Basel). 2025 Aug 16;14(8):1068. doi: 10.3390/biology14081068.
The number of thoracolumbar vertebrae (NTLV) and the number of ribs (NR) are economically important traits in pigs due to their influence on carcass length and meat yield. Although is an established key gene, it fails to fully account for population-level variation in vertebral count, necessitating a further exploration of its genetic mechanisms. Given the efficacy of crossbred populations in mapping the genetic determinants of phenotypic variation, we analyzed 439 pigs from a Landrace × Yorkshire cross. Genotyping was performed via a 50 K SNP chip. Both NTLV and NR showed high heritability (0.700 and 0.752, respectively), while the number of lumbar vertebrae (NLV) showed limited variation (92.5% of pigs had NLV = 6). Using the BLINK model, four significant loci were identified. The most significant SNP, rs3469762345, located in the intergenic region between and , corresponds to a previously known QTL. Additionally, three novel variant sites (rs81211244, rs81347323, and rs81416674) were identified within or near the , , and genes, which are known to play a role in bone development. This study uncovers novel swine candidate genes associated with vertebral and rib number variation, subsequently facilitating targeted research into their molecular mechanisms.
由于胸腰椎数量（NTLV）和肋骨数量（NR）对猪胴体长度和产肉量有影响，所以它们是猪的重要经济性状。尽管[某个基因名称]是一个已确定的关键基因，但它无法完全解释椎体数量在群体水平上的变异，因此有必要进一步探索其遗传机制。鉴于杂交群体在定位表型变异的遗传决定因素方面的有效性，我们分析了439头大白猪×长白猪杂交后代。通过50K SNP芯片进行基因分型。NTLV和NR均显示出高遗传力（分别为0.700和0.752），而腰椎数量（NLV）变异有限（92.5%的猪NLV = 6）。使用BLINK模型，鉴定出四个显著位点。最显著的SNP，rs3469762345，位于[两个基因名称]之间的基因间区域，对应于一个先前已知的QTL。此外，在[三个基因名称]基因内部或附近鉴定出三个新的变异位点（rs81211244、rs81347323和rs81416674），已知这些基因在骨骼发育中起作用。本研究揭示了与椎体和肋骨数量变异相关的新的猪候选基因，随后有助于对其分子机制进行有针对性的研究。
