Abstract
The fearful withdrawal response to humans was studied with regard to the effect of hereditary and environmental factors in four consecutive generations of minipigs bred at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics (ICG). Variation in the withdrawal response was tested in four heterotypic settings. The standard aversive stimulus was the presence of a human as the animals were being given food either as a group or one-by-one after 14–16 or 2 h of food deprivation. All the studied factors are ranged with regard to their contributions to the overall phenotypic variation of the response as follows: sex (0.0–0.4%), age (0.1–4.7%), social isolation (0.1–2.1%), coloring types (2.9–7.8%), boar genotype (10.8%), food motivation (6.1–12.8%), and the genotype–food motivation interaction (2.7–56.4%). This was the first demonstration of a hereditary polymorphism of this behavioral reaction in minipigs, which includes three classes of behavioral phenotypes. Sex and age do not affect the withdrawal response in piglets aged from 1.5 months to 4.1 months. It was found that the age-related changes in the behavior of sows depend on the indirect selection of individuals with a quiet phenotype, where the frequency of this phenotype increases from 29% (the reared stock) to 63%. Social isolation and food motivation significantly influence the response in piglets aged 1.5 and 4.1 months, but not in sows aged 10.4 and 22.5 months. An adverse consequence of the environmental influence of food motivation and its interaction is a broad variability (CV within 95–120%) of the withdrawal response. The obtained results will contribute to the study of the genetics of the fearful-defensive response to humans and to the correction of the method for evaluating this behavior, valuable for breeding, in ICG minipigs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bigelow, J.A. and Houpt, T.R., Feeding and drinking patterns in young pigs, Physiol. Behav., 1988, vol. 43, pp. 99–109.
Christoffersen, B., Golozoubova, V., Pacini, G., Svendsen, O., and Raun, K., The young Gottingen minipig as a model of childhood and adolescent obesity: Influence of diet and gender, Obesity, 2013, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 149–158.
Folkoner, D.S., Vvedenie v genetiku kolichestvennykh priznakov (Introduction to the Genetics of Quantitative Traits), Moscow: Agropromizdat, 1985.
Forkman, B., Boissy, A., Meunier-Slaun, M.-C., Canali, E., and Jones, R.B., A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses, Physiol. Behav., 2007, vol. 92, pp. 340–374. doi 2007.03.016 doi 10.1016/j.physbeh
Hemsworth, P.H., Barnett, J.L., Coleman, G.J., and Hansen, C.H., A study of the relationships between the attitudinal and behavioural profiles of stockpersons and the level of fear of humans and reproductive performance of commercial pigs, Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 1989, vol. 23, pp. 301–314.
Kapanadze, G.D. and Ashuev, Zh.A., Svetlogorsk population of mini-pigs, Biomeditsina, 2007, vol. 6, pp. 70–80.
Hinde, R.A., Animal Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Inc.,1966, 2nd ed.
Kohn, F., Sharifi, A.R., and Simianer, H., Genetic analysis of reactivity to humans in Gottingen minipigs, Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 2009, vol. 120, pp. 68–75. doi 10.1016/j.applanim.2009.05.006
Kozlovskaya, M.M., Vyyavlenie psikhotropnoi aktivnosti na modeli eksperimental’no vyzvannykh sdvigov emotsional’nogo sostoyaniya. Neirofarmakologicheskaya regulyatsiya sistemnykh protsessov (Identification of Psychotropic Activity on the Model of Experimentally Induced Emotional State Changes. Neuropharmacological Regulation of System Processes), Leningrad: Nauka, 1974.
Kulikov, V.A., Khostskin, N.V., Nikitin, S.V., Lankin, V.S., Kulikov, A.V., and Trapezov, O.V., Application of 3-D imagins sensor for tracking minipigs in the open field test, J. Neurosci. Meth., 2014, vol. 235, pp. 219–225.
Lankin, V.S., Domestication behavior of sheep, Genetika, 1997, vol. 33, no. 8, pp. 1119–1125.
Lankin, V.S., Domestication behavior of sheep. The role of behavior polymorphism in the regulation of stress reactions, Genetika, 1999, vol. 35, no. 8, pp. 947–961.
Lankin, V.S. and Buissu, M.F., Factors of variability in domestication behavior in animals of producing species, Genetika, 2001, vol. 37, no. 7, pp. 947–961.
Lankin, V.S., Buissu, M.F., Navyu, Zh., Burlot, T., and Signoret, Zh.P., Factors of variability in domestication behavior in specialized lines of pigs, S-kh. Biol., 2007, vol. 4, pp. 34–52.
Lankin, V.S., Genotypic and modification variability of passive- defensive behavior toward humans in domestic pigs, Russ. J. Genet., Appl. Res., 2014, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 60–73.
Lind, N.M., Arnfred, S.M., Hemmingsen, R.P., Hansen, A.R., and Jensen, K.H., Open field behaviour and reaction to novelty in Gottingen minipigs: Effects of amphetamine and haloperidol, Scand. J. Lab. Anim. Sct., 2005, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 103–110.
Nikitin, S.V., Knyazev, S.P., and Shatokhin, K.S., Miniature pigs of ICG as a model object for morphogenetic research, Russ. J. Genet., Appl. Res., 2014, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 511–522.
Rauw, W.M., Kanis, E., Noordhuizen-Stassen, E.N., and Grommers, F.J., Undesirable side effects of selection for high production efficiency in farm animals: A review, Livestock Prod. Sci., 1998, vol. 56, pp. 15–33. doi 10.1016/S0301-6226(98)00147-X
Roberts, R.S., The growth of mice selected for large and small size in relation to food intake and for efficiency of conversion, Genet. Res. Camb., 1981, vol. 38, pp. 9–24.
Shatokhin, K.S., Zaporozhets, V.I., Goncharenko, G.M., and Nikitin, S.V., Characteristics of miniature pigs for exterior and behavior features, Sib. Vestn. S-kh. Nauki, 2013, vol. 4, pp. 32–36.
Simianer, H. and Kohn, F., Genetic management of the Gottingen minipig population, J. Pharmacol. Toxicol. Meth., 2010, vol. 62, pp. 221–226. doi 10.1016/j.vascn.2010.05.004
Sondergaard, L.V., Jensen, K.H., Hemmingsen, R., Hansen, A.K., and Lind, N.M., Characterisation of spontaneous behaviour in Gottingen minipigs in the homepen, Scand. J. Lab. Anim. Sci., 2007, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 91–103.
Sondergaard, L.V., Herskin, M.S., Holm, I.E., and Dagnes-Hansen, F., Effect of genetic homogenity on behavioural variability in an object recognition test in cloned Gottingen minipigs, Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 2012, vol. 141, pp. 20–24.
Stankova, N.V. and Kapanadze, G.D., Selection-genetic and experimental work with mini-pigs of the Svetlogorsk population, Biomeditsina, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 49–53.
Tanida, H. and Nagana, Y., The ability of miniature pigs to discriminate between a stranger and their familiar handler, Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 1998, vol. 56, pp. 149–159.
Tikhonov, V.N., Laboratornye mini-svin’i (Laboratory Mini-Pigs), Novosibirsk, 2010.
Trapezov, O.V., Trapezova, L.I., and Sergeev, E.G., Effect of coat color mutations on behavioral polymorphism in farm populations of American minks (Mustela vison Schreber, 1777) and sables (Martes zibellina Linnaeus, 1758), Russ. J. Genet., 2008, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 444–450.
Trut, L.N., Plyusnina, I.Z., and Prasolova, L.A., Mutations hooded and nonagouti in the common rat (Rattus norvegicus): Effects of selection for behavior and photoperiod, Genetika, 2000, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 813–822.
Tsutsumi, H., Morikawa, N., Niki, R., and Tanigawa, M., Acclimatization and response of minipigs toward humans, Lab. Anim., 2001, vol. 35, pp. 236–241. doi 10.1258/0023677011911688
Veenema, A.H., Meijer, O.C., Kloet, E.R., and Koolhaas, J.M., Genetic selection for coping style predicts stressor susceptibility, J. Neuroendocrinol., 2003, vol. 15, pp. 256–267.
Wilcock, J., Gene action and behavior: An evaluation of major gene pleiotropism, Psychol. Bull., 1969, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 1–29.
Zhivotovskii, L.A., Populyatsionnaya biometriya (Population Biometrics), Moscow: Nauka, 1991.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © V.S. Lankin, S.V. Nikitin, O.V. Trapezov, 2015, published in Vavilovskii Zhurnal Genetiki i Selektsii, 2015, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 613–623.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lankin, V.S., Nikitin, S.V. & Trapezov, O.V. Factors contributing to the variation of the fearful withdrawal response to humans in minipigs bred at ICG SB RAS. Russ J Genet Appl Res 6, 594–604 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079059716050075
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079059716050075