Molecular genetic analysis of boar taint

Boar taint is an unpleasant smell and taste of pork meat derived from some entire male pigs. The main causes of boar taint are the two compounds androstenone (5α-androst-16-en-3-one) and skatole (3-methylindole). It is crucial to understand the genetic mechanism of boar taint to select pigs for lower androstenone levels and thus reduce boar taint. The aim of this study was the identification of genes and pathways influencing boar taint and involved in androstenone and skatol metabolism. Therefore polymorphisms in relevant genes were identified and transcriptome analysis using Affymetrix-Chips and RNA-Seq in the two major organs involved in androstenone metabolism i.e the testis and the liver was performed. Differentially regulated genes in high androstenone testis and liver samples were involved in metabolic processes such as retinol metabolism, metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450 and fatty acid metabolism. Moreover, a number of genes encoding biosynthesis of steroids were highly expressed in high androstenone testis samples. Gene polymorphism analysis revealed potential mutations in HSP40, IGFBP1, CYP7A1 and FMO5 genes affecting androstenone levels. Further studies are required for verify the role of candidate genes to be used in genomic selection against boar taint in pig breeding programs. According to the results of association studies, FMO5, CYP21 and ESR1 turned out to be the most promising candidates for boar taint

La confiance mutuelle dans l'espace pénal européen/Mutual Trust in the European Criminal Area

L'ouvrage constitue une réflexion approfondie sur la problématique de la confiance mutuelle dans l'espace pénal européen, un thème d’une brûlante actualité dès lors que l'importance de la confiance mutuelle dans cet espace va croissant

Audiovisual work- Interview with Luc Frieden, Luxembourg, 28 July 2010 (Lenght 01:01:41)

Interview de Luc Frieden (Luxembourg, 28 juillet 2010) (Lenght: 01:01:41) In the framework of the research project "Pierre Werner and Europe", interview with Luc Frieden, Member of Parliament, Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee and Chairman of the Committee on Institutions and Constitutional Revision in the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 1998, Minister for Justice, Minister for the Budget and Minister for Relations with Parliament from 1998 to 1999, Governor of the World Bank from 1998 to 2013, Minister for Justice and Minister for the Treasury and the Budget from 1999 to 2009, Minister for Defence from 2004 to 2006 and Minister for Finance from 2009 to 2013, carried out by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE) on 28 July 2010 at the Ministry of Finance in Luxembourg. The interview was conducted by Dr Elena Danescu, a Researcher at the CVCE, and particularly focuses on the following subjects: the personality and European achievements of Pierre Werner, Luxembourg’s role in the European integration process, the Eurogroup, Ecofin and economic governance after the Lisbon Treaty

Scale-Based Gaussian Coverings: Combining Intra and Inter Mixture Models in Image Segmentation

By a "covering" we mean a Gaussian mixture model fit to observed data. Approximations of the Bayes factor can be availed of to judge model fit to the data within a given Gaussian mixture model. Between families of Gaussian mixture models, we propose the R\'enyi quadratic entropy as an excellent and tractable model comparison framework. We exemplify this using the segmentation of an MRI image volume, based (1) on a direct Gaussian mixture model applied to the marginal distribution function, and (2) Gaussian model fit through k-means applied to the 4D multivalued image volume furnished by the wavelet transform. Visual preference for one model over another is not immediate. The R\'enyi quadratic entropy allows us to show clearly that one of these modelings is superior to the other

Genome-wide association analyses for boar taint components and testicular traits revealed regions having pleiotropic effects

The aim of this study was to perform a genome-wide association analyses (GWAS) for androstenone, skatole and indole in different Pietrain sire lines and compare the results with previous findings in purebred populations. Furthermore, the genetic relationship of androstenone and skatole were investigated with respect to pleiotropy. In order to characterize the performance of intact boars, crossbred progenies of 136 Pietrain boars mated to crossbred sows from three different breeding companies were tested on four test stations. A total of 598 boars were performance tested according to the rules of stationary performance testing in Germany. Beside common fattening and carcass composition traits, the concentrations of the boar taint components and testicular size parameters were recorded. All boars were genotyped with the PorcineSNP60 Illumina BeadChip. The GWAS were performed using the whole data set as well as in sub groups according to the line of origin. Besides an univariate GWAS approach, principal component (PC) techniques were applied to identify common expression pattern affecting the biosynthesis and the metabolism of androstenone

Züchterische Möglichkeiten zur Verminderung der Ebergeruchsproblematik bei Schlachtschweinen

Within the European Union, it can be expected that surgical castration without anaesthesiawill be banned until 2018. Besides immunocastration and surgical castration withanaesthesia, fattening of entire males seems to be an attractive alternative. However, abroad expansion of this practise is problematic due to boar taint which is mainly causedby the pheromone androstenone and bacteria degradation product skatole. Because ofhigh heritabilities of both components, breeding against boar taint should be successful.Due to lack of certain thresholds for androstenone, a precise definition of the breeding objective is difficult. Human nose scoring is less influenced by the problem of threshold determination. However, in order to integrate the results of human nose scoring into the breeding procedure, it is necessary to define clear guidelines for recording. Breeding against androstenone is impaired by the unfavourable correlation particular to maternal fertility. Although this antagonism is not obvious in some commercial populations, only selection within sire lines is feasible, whereas breeding against androstenone in dam lines is not recommendable. Molecular genetic tools enable to identify genes, involved only in the degradation, but not in the synthesis of androstenone. In other words, there are no pleiotropic effects of these genes on androstenone and fertility. Recent studies confirm the existence of such non-pleiotropic genes. Therefore selection against androstenone could be applied efficiently without negative consequences on maternal fertility

RNA deep sequencing reveals novel candidate genes and polymorphisms in boar testis and liver tissues with divergent androstenone levels

Boar taint is an unpleasant smell and taste of pork meat derived from some entire male pigs. The main causes of boar taint are the two compounds androstenone (5α-androst-16-en-3-one) and skatole (3-methylindole). It is crucial to understand the genetic mechanism of boar taint to select pigs for lower androstenone levels and thus reduce boar taint. The aim of the present study was to investigate transcriptome differences in boar testis and liver tissues with divergent androstenone levels using RNA deep sequencing (RNA-Seq). The total number of reads produced for each testis and liver sample ranged from 13,221,550 to 33,206,723 and 12,755,487 to 46,050,468, respectively. In testis samples 46 genes were differentially regulated whereas 25 genes showed differential expression in the liver. The fold change values ranged from -4.68 to 2.90 in testis samples and -2.86 to 3.89 in liver samples. Differentially regulated genes in high androstenone testis and liver samples were enriched in metabolic processes such as lipid metabolism, small molecule biochemistry and molecular transport. This study provides evidence for transcriptome profile and gene polymorphisms of boars with divergent androstenone level using RNA-Seq technology. Digital gene expression analysis identified candidate genes in flavin monooxygenease family, cytochrome P450 family and hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase family. Moreover, polymorphism and association analysis revealed mutation in IRG6, MX1, IFIT2, CYP7A1, FMO5 and KRT18 genes could be potential candidate markers for androstenone levels in boars. Further studies are required for proving the role of candidate genes to be used in genomic selection against boar taint in pig breeding programs

Preliminary study of FMO1, FMO5, CYP21, ESR1, PLIN2 and SULT2A1 as candidate gene for compounds related to boar taint

An association study between polymorphisms of six genes and boar taint related compounds androstenone, skatole and indole was performed in a boar population (n = 370). Significant association (P G) with all boar taint compounds, SNP of CYP21 (g.3911T>C) with skatole and indole, and SNP of ESR1 (g.672C>T) with androstenone and indole. mRNA expression of CYP21 and ESR1 was higher in CAB (castrated boar) compared to non-castrated boars; whereas, the expression of FMO5 and ESR1 was higher in LBT (low boar taint) compared to HBT (high boar taint) in liver tissue. FMO5, CYP21 and ESR1 proteins were less detectable in HBT compared with LBT and CAB in liver tissues. These findings suggest that FMO5, CYP21 and ESR1 gene variants might have effects on the boar taint compounds. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved