Testes Weight Is Not A Reliable Tool for Discriminating Immunocastrates from Entire Males

In view of the criticism regarding the piglet castration as currently practiced, one of the alternatives is the active immunisation against the hypothalamic GnRH hormone referred to as immunocastration. This method is effective in prevention of boar taint in pork and has the advantage of avoiding the pain associated with castration (performed without anaesthesia and analgesia). However, in some rare cases the immunocastration may not be effective and such pigs (so called non-responders) present a risk for boar taint. It is therefore important to have a reliable indicator of the effective immunocastration for the use on the slaughter line. Determination of boar taint substances (androstenone and skatole) is time consuming and expensive, whereas the size of reproductive organs could serve as an indicator of successful immunocastration. Present study provides results for 76 immunocastrates (IC) and 55 entire males (EM) varying in body (or carcass) weight and delay between immunocastration and slaughter, in which testes and accessory sex glands (vesicular gland, bulbourethral gland) were dissected and weighed. Gathered data were used to distinguish IC and EM by discriminant analysis. The results show better discrimination of IC than EM. Testes weight is less reliable indicator of successful immunisation than the weight of accessory sex glands and that the best discrimination was achieved when using all three measurements

Potential sensitivity of pork production situations aiming at high-quality products to the use of entire male pigs as an alternative to surgical castrates

The perspective of a possible ban on surgical castration of male pigs in the EU is a real challenge for pork production systems aiming at (very) high-quality products. Information was collected from a total of 272 situations in 16 European countries, including 170 situations related to EU protected designations (Database of Origin & Registration (DOOR) database) and 102 other situations related to high-quality products or differentiated production systems, in order to evaluate their potential sensitivity to the use of entire male pigs along four dimensions: BT_Inc, likelihood of increased levels of boar taint compounds compared with conventional production of entire males; BT_Per, extent to which (some of) the associated pork product(s) are susceptible to perception of boar taint by consumers; FatQQ, likelihood that the quality of (some of) the related products is decreased due to the lower fat quantity and quality in entire males; Manag, increased likelihood of animal management and welfare problems compared with conventional production of entire males. Situations corresponding to EU protected designations (DOOR situations) were on average more sensitive to entire male production but 11% of the non-DOOR situations were highly potentially sensitive, whereas one-third of the DOOR situations had low potential sensitivity. In total, 37% of the situations where castration is not formally specified as mandatory exhibited high potential sensitivity to entire male production. Three main patterns of situations were identified via ascending hierarchical clustering. A first pattern including 31% of the DOOR situations and 74% of the other ones, had potentially no increased risk compared with conventional production of entire males. A second pattern including 28% of the DOOR situations and 16% of the other ones had a high, moderate and low potential sensitivity for FatQQ, BT_Inc and Manag, respectively. The third pattern including 41% of the DOOR situations and 11% of the other situations had high potential sensitivity for BT_Inc and FatQQ, associated with moderate to high sensitivity for Manag. The approach used to evaluate the sensitivity to entire male pig production from the limited information collected for this study has many limitations. More precise approaches using more specific information are needed to evaluate the actual sensitivity of individual situations to the use of entire male pigs. Still, the present study provides a first global insight on the capacity of European production systems aiming at high-quality products to use entire male pigs as an alternative to surgical castration.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Encuesta de datos demográficos y fenotípicos de razas locales de cerdos del proyecto TREASURE

The paper reports the results of a survey on the demographic and phenotypic characterization of 20 European local pig breeds involved in the H2020 TREASURE project including information on: demographic parameters, main morphological features, reproductive information, additional information collected at herd-level (i.e. temperament, holding, mating practices), origins and development of the breeds. Almost all the breeds (18 out of 20) possess a herd book even if the starting year is highly variable (from 1980 to 2006). Number of breeding females ranged from 24 (Moravka) to over 200,000 heads (Ibérico). Male/female ratio varied greatly with the highest values for the Italian breeds probably due to the different policy of animal recording. Almost all the breeds undergo a conservation program whereas really few are interested by other conservation techniques and for less than five breeds data related to effective number and inbreeding coefficient are easily available. Average values for teat number, litter size and weaned piglets are 12, 8 and 6 respectively with a great potential for their improvement. The depicted scenario is highly diversified and the data collected represent the starting point for the achievement of a collective trademark under the umbrella of the TREASURE project

Diversity across major and candidate genes in European local pig breeds

The aim of this work was to analyse the distribution of causal and candidate mutations associated to relevant productive traits in twenty local European pig breeds. Also, the potential of the SNP panel employed for elucidating the genetic structure and relationships among breeds was evaluated. Most relevant genes and mutations associated with pig morphological, productive, meat quality, reproductive and disease resistance traits were prioritized and analyzed in a maximum of 47 blood samples from each of the breeds (Alentejana, Apulo-Calabrese, Basque, Bísara, Majorcan Black, Black Slavonian (Crna slavonska), Casertana, Cinta Senese, Gascon, Iberian, Krskopolje (Krskopoljski), Lithuanian indigenous wattle, Lithuanian White Old Type, Mora Romagnola, Moravka, Nero Siciliano, Sarda, Schwa-bisch-Hallisches Schwein (Swabian Hall pig), Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa and Turopolje). We successfully analyzed allelic variation in 39 polymorphisms, located in 33 candidate genes. Results provide relevant information regarding genetic diversity and segregation of SNPs associated to production and quality traits. Coat color and morphological trait-genes that show low level of segregation, and fixed SNPs may be useful for traceability. On the other hand, we detected SNPs which may be useful for association studies as well as breeding programs. For instance, we observed predominance of alleles that might be unfavorable for disease resistance and boar taint in most breeds and segregation of many alleles involved in meat quality, fatness and growth traits. Overall, these findings provide a detailed catalogue of segregating candidate SNPs in 20 European local pig breeds that may be useful for traceability purposes, for association studies and for breeding schemes. Population genetic analyses based on these candidate genes are able to uncover some clues regarding the hidden genetic substructure of these populations, as the extreme genetic closeness between Iberian and Alentejana breeds and an uneven admixture of the breeds studied. The results are in agreement with available knowledge regarding breed history and management, although largest panels of neutral markers should be employed to get a deeper understanding of the population’s structure and relationships

Genomic diversity, linkage disequilibrium and selection signatures in European local pig breeds assessed with a high density SNP chip

Genetic characterization of local breeds is essential to preserve their genomic variability, to advance conservation policies and to contribute to their promotion and sustainability. Genomic diversity of twenty European local pig breeds and a small sample of Spanish wild pigs was assessed using high density SNP chips. A total of 992 DNA samples were analyzed with the GeneSeek Genomic Profiler (GGP) 70 K HD porcine genotyping chip. Genotype data was employed to compute genetic diversity, population differentiation and structure, genetic distances, linkage disequilibrium and effective population size. Our results point out several breeds, such as Turopolje, Apulo Calabrese, Casertana, Mora Romagnola and Lithuanian indigenous wattle, having the lowest genetic diversity, supported by low heterozygosity and very small effective population size, demonstrating the need of enhanced conservation strategies. Principal components analysis showed the clustering of the individuals of the same breed, with few breeds being clearly isolated from the rest. Several breeds were partially overlapped, suggesting genetic closeness, which was particularly marked in the case of Iberian and Alentejana breeds. Spanish wild boar was also narrowly related to other western populations, in agreement with recurrent admixture between wild and domestic animals. We also searched across the genome for loci under diversifying selection based on FST outlier tests. Candidate genes that may underlie differences in adaptation to specific environments and productive systems and phenotypic traits were detected in potentially selected genomic regions

Signatures of de-domestication in autochthonous pig breeds and of domestication in wild boar populations from MC1R and NR6A1 allele distribution

Autochthonous pig breeds are usually reared in extensive or semi-extensive production systems that might facilitate contact with wild boars and, thus, reciprocal genetic exchanges. In this study, we analysed variants in the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene (which cause different coat colour phenotypes) and in the nuclear receptor subfamily 6 group A member 1 (NR6A1) gene (associated with increased vertebral number) in 712 pigs of 12 local pig breeds raised in Italy (Apulo-Calabrese, Casertana, Cinta Senese, Mora Romagnola, Nero Siciliano and Sarda) and south-eastern European countries (Krskopolje from Slovenia, Black Slavonian and Turopolje from Croatia, Mangalitsa and Moravka from Serbia and East Balkan Swine from Bulgaria) and compared the data with the genetic variability at these loci investigated in 229 wild boars from populations spread in the same macro-geographic areas. None of the autochthonous pig breeds or wild boar populations were fixed for one allele at both loci. Domestic and wild-type alleles at these two genes were present in both domestic and wild populations. Findings of the distribution of MC1R alleles might be useful for tracing back the complex genetic history of autochthonous breeds. Altogether, these results indirectly demonstrate that bidirectional introgression of wild and domestic alleles is derived and affected by the human and naturally driven evolutionary forces that are shaping the Sus scrofa genome: autochthonous breeds are experiencing a sort of 'de-domestication' process, and wild resources are challenged by a 'domestication' drift. Both need to be further investigated and managed

Exploratory Survey on European Consumer and Stakeholder Attitudes towards Alternatives for Surgical Castration of Piglets

Simple SummaryIn many countries, surgical castration of piglets without pain relief or anaesthesia is still common practice. Castration is performed to minimise the incidence of boar taint, a bad taste (urine/fecal like), typically present in the meat of 5 to 10% of uncastrated male pigs. It also helps to avoid aggressive and sexual behaviour. For animal welfare reasons, alternatives are being considered, and in some countries, an alternative is already practiced. One option is to perform surgical castration with anaesthesia and relieve pain. A second option is to produce male pigs without castration, which requires detection of tainted carcasses in the slaughter house. A third option is to apply immunocastration: by a two-fold injection of a vaccine, the testes function is inhibited, which reduces boar-like behaviour and avoids boar taint. In this study, we evaluated the acceptability of each of these methods in 16 countries in Europe. Of the 4 presented options, the practice of surgical castration was least accepted (32%), whilst there was a high acceptance of castration with anaesthesia (85%), followed by immunocastration (71%) and production of boars (49%). The developed questionnaire and infographic can be used in future studies to further gain insights in consumer and stakeholder attitudes on this topic.Surgical castration of piglets without pain relief is still common practice in many countries. Possible alternatives for surgical castration are application of pain relief or anaesthesia or production of boars (entire males) and immunocastrates. Each of these alternatives faces advantages and disadvantages which may result in different citizen attitudes and consumers acceptability. Understanding which practice is acceptable to whom and why may further stimulate implementation. Consumer (n = 3251) and stakeholder (n = 1027) attitudes towards surgical castration without pain relief, surgical castration with anaesthesia, immunocastration, and production of boars were surveyed from April to June 2020 via an online questionnaire in 16 countries (>175 respondents per country). Surgical castration without pain relief was separated from each of the alternatives due to animal welfare and showed the lowest acceptability (32%). Within the alternatives, a further partitioning between the alternatives was based on perceived quality and food safety, with an acceptance of 85% for applying anaesthesia, 71% for immunocastration, and 49% for boar production. Differences depending on professional involvement and familiarity with agriculture could be observed, mainly for the acceptance of surgical castration without anaesthesia, immunocastration, and boars. Castration with anaesthesia was highly accepted by all types of respondents

Survey of demographic and phenotypic data of local pig breeds of TREASURE project

The paper reports the results of a survey on the demographic and phenotypic characterization of 20 European local pig breeds involved in the H2020 TREASURE project including information on: demographic parameters, main morphological features, reproductive information, additional information collected at herd-level (i.e. temperament, holding, mating practices), origins and development of the breeds. Almost all the breeds (18 out of 20) possess a herd book even if the starting year is highly variable (from 1980 to 2006). Number of breeding females ranged from 24 (Moravka) to over 200,000 heads (Ibérico). Male/female ratio varied greatly with the highest values for the Italian breeds probably due to the different policy of animal recording. Almost all the breeds undergo a conservation program whereas really few are interested by other conservation techniques and for less than five breeds data related to effective number and inbreeding coefficient are easily available. Average values for teat number, litter size and weaned piglets are 12, 8 and 6 respectively with a great potential for their improvement. The depicted scenario is highly diversified and the data collected represent the starting point for the achievement of a collective trademark under the umbrella of the TREASURE project