Analysis of genetic distribution and population genetic structure of the MyoD gene in 10 pig breeds

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) data was applied to analyze the distribution of the MyoD gene in 10 pig breeds and pig breed crosses. The population genetic information about genetic distribution, variation, and heterozygosity of the MyoD gene in different breed populations were analyzed. Based on the allele frequency, genetic distance and evolution distance among each breed populations were calculated and Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic mean (UPGMA) phylogenetic tree was gained based on the evolution distances between populations. The results indicated that the distribution of the MyoD genotype kept in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in most tested groups but not in Duroc (D) and Duroc6(Landrance × Yorkshire) (DLY) population. Generally, the genetic diversity of the MyoD gene was abundant and these tested breed populations had high genetic variations. The evolution of the MyoD gene was under natural selection pressure. On the phylogenetic tree, 10 pig breeds were divided into 4 clusters. The first cluster consisted of four breeds developed from Landrace. The second cluster was two indigenous Chinese pig breeds. The third cluster was three breeds developed from Duroc. The fourth cluster was a Tibetan pig breed. The constitution of the topology of the phylogenetic tree was consistent with the breeding history of each pig breed. From this experiment, we can conclude that some RFLP data obtained from functional gene can be used in the genetic deviation research between some closely related species or between different populations in certain species. __________ Translated from Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica, 2007, 38(1): 1–7 译自: 畜牧兽医学报]