Functional additive effect of H blood group alleles on carcass length in Danish landrace pigs.

: Previous investigations have revealed statistically significant associations between H blood group genotypes and carcass length in Danish Landrace pigs. The same data were subjected to an analysis aimed at a genetic interpretation of the associations. The regression of the average carcass length (in cm) on the average number of H- alleles for individuals within three genetically characterized classes was 0.725 and the correlation coefficient was 0.995. The results indicate that the associations can be interpreted as being due to an additive effect of the H blood group alleles on carcass length. The additive effect is designated as being functional. A similar effect is expected with respect to any allelic pair exhibiting linkage disequilibrium with alleles at the H locus.