Association of 15 candidate genes with meat quality traits in Czech Large White pigs

Meat quality traits are a crucial factor in efficient pork production. In this work, we studied the influence of fifteen genes (MC4R, LPIN1, SERCA1, H-FABP, TNNI2, LCAT, HMGCR, FTO, SERPINE1, PLIN1, EDG4,CSRP3, PRKAG3, CTSZ and TCF7L2) on important meat quality parameters: intramuscular fat, cholesterol level, fatty acid composition (palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic), drip loss, ultimate pH, ultimate electrical conductivity and colour. In total, 88 Czech Large White (sire line) sows were tested for previously described polymorphisms by PCR-RFLP. SERCA1 was genotyped by sequencing. Two new polymorphisms were found in SERCA1: c.686A>G and c.810C>T (accession number ENSSSCT00000008553). In our research, association analysis showed LPIN1, LCAT, SERPINE1, PLIN and TCF7L2 to have significant influences on plasma cholesterol level. HMGCR was significantly associated with IMF and palmitic acid content. LCATwas associated with linoleic acid content. EDG4 exhibited significant influence on drip loss. None of the tested genes had a significant effect on meat colour.   Key words: Large White, intramuscular fat, fatty acids, drip loss, meat colour, gene association.