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Confirmed association between a single nucleotide polymorphism in the FTO gene and obesity-related traits in heavy pigs

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Abstract

We recently showed that a polymorphism in the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene (AM931150: g.276T > G) is associated with fat deposition traits in pigs. To confirm this result, we genotyped this polymorphism in an Italian Duroc population made up by 313 performance tested pigs with known estimated breeding values (EBVs) for average daily gain, back fat thickness (BFT), feed:gain ratio, lean cuts (LC), and visible intermuscular fat (VIF, a measure of intermuscular fat in the hams). In addition, we genotyped 148 commercial heavy pigs for which several fat deposition traits and lean meat percentage were measured. The results of the association analyses confirmed the effect of the FTO mutation on obesity-related traits (VIF, BFT and LC) in the Italian Duroc pigs (P < 0.01) and in the commercial pigs (intramuscular fat content of different muscles, P < 0.05 or P < 0.10; lean meat content, P < 0.05; BFT, P < 0.05; intermuscular fat content in the hams, P < 0.05).

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. M. Yerle (INRA) for providing the INRA-Minnesota 7000 rads RH panel and ANAS for providing samples and data. This work was supported by University of Bologna (FAGenomicH project) and MiPAAF (Selmol project) funds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DIPROVAL, Sezione di Allevamenti Zootecnici, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bologna, Via F.lli Rosselli 107, 42100, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    Luca Fontanesi, Emilio Scotti, Stefania Dall’Olio, Roberta Davoli & Vincenzo Russo

  2. Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Suini (ANAS), Via Lazzaro Spallanzani 4/6, 00161, Rome, Italy

    Luca Buttazzoni

  3. Department of Veterinary Sciences and Technologies for Food Safety, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universita` degli Studi di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Alessandro Bagnato

  4. Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 42100, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    Domenico Pietro Lo Fiego

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  1. Luca Fontanesi
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  2. Emilio Scotti
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  3. Luca Buttazzoni
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  4. Stefania Dall’Olio
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  5. Alessandro Bagnato
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  6. Domenico Pietro Lo Fiego
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  7. Roberta Davoli
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  8. Vincenzo Russo
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Correspondence to Luca Fontanesi.

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Fontanesi, L., Scotti, E., Buttazzoni, L. et al. Confirmed association between a single nucleotide polymorphism in the FTO gene and obesity-related traits in heavy pigs. Mol Biol Rep 37, 461–466 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9638-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9638-8

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