Copy number variation of pork quality traits found in China

??? Recently, news came from the pig genetics and breeding science and technology innovation team of Beijing Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The team obtained a number of gene copy number variations significantly related to pork quality traits by scanning the whole gene copy number variation of pigs. It is the first time in the world to study the association of meat quality traits within the whole genome of pigs.

Chinese indigenous pig breeds are famous for their good meat quality in the world. How to transfer genetic advantages such as high intramuscular fat content of Chinese indigenous pig breeds to lean pigs which occupy most of the market as soon as possible without affecting other traits too much is an important task faced by researchers at present. As one of the most widespread variations in the genome, copy number variation plays an important role in many traits and is one of the most likely variants to explain "lost inheritance" beyond the effects of monophosphate.