GENOTYPE AND ALLELE FREQUENCIES OF HEART FATTY ACID BINDING PROTEIN (HFABP), LEPTIN RECEPTOR (LEPR) AND INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR 2 (IGF2) GENES OF SELECTED PHILIPPINE NATIVE PIG HERDS IN LUZON AND VISAYAS

Abstract

Nucleus herds of Native Pigs (NP) at various locations in the Philippines implement a breeding program for food security and genetic conservation. The market niche of NP is lechon due to its unique fat composition. Genes associated with fat deposition and meat quality can be screened to identify individual NP carrying favorable alleles of these genes for selection to complement the breeding program. This study was conducted to determine the genotype and allele frequencies of Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) marker of Heart Fatty Acid Binding Protein (HFABP) and Leptin Receptor (LEPR) genes and Mutagenically-Separated Polymerase Chain Reaction (MS-PCR) marker of Insulin-like Growth Factor2 (IGF2) gene. The HFABP gene has three RFLP markers hence, there are at most, 6 favorable alleles possible. Out of 543 screened individuals, 18.5%, 42% and 39.5% carry two (HL2), three (HL3) and four (HL4) favorable alleles, respectively. For LEPR, 38%, 45.6% and 16.1% were of AA (favorable), AB and BB genotypes. For IGF2-in7, the favorable genotype CC was 3.3% followed by 19.5% CG and 77.2% GG. Results suggest good potential for marbling and reduction in backfat depth through selection. The availability of genetic tests can hasten the identification of individuals carrying favorable genotypes.