Age-related prolificacy dynamics in mini-pigs of ICiG SB RAS and its association with the white coat color

The article presents the results of the prolificacy dynamics analysis (the number of newborn piglets per litter) in the mini-pig breeding group of ICiG SB RAS. It is shown that the form of agerelated dynamics of this trait in mini-pigs differs significantly from that described earlier in the Kemerovo breed. In the latter it has the shape of a parabola, in the former it has two consecutive rectilinear segments. The comparison of prolificacy of white (genotype I/…) and non-white (genotype i/i) mini-pigs of ICiG SB RAS showed a statistically significant superiority of the average values of the trait in sows with genotype I/…, as well as the difference in the age-related dynamics in the compared groups. The difference in the mean prolificacy between carriers of the dominant allele I of the epistatic white coat color and homozygotes for the recessive ‘non-white’ allele i is comparable to the difference in this trait between multiand medium-fertile breeds of European domestic pigs. The age-related prolificacy dynamics show that the high value of the trait in white mini-pigs is due to the longer period of of reproductive potential development. In nonwhite mini-pigs it lasts from the 1st to the 3rd farrow, in white pigs from the 1st to the 4th farrow.

A comparison of the reciprocal crosses of white sows with non-white boars and non-white sows with white boars showed that the average prolificacy of the first type of cross was significantly higher than that of the second type. The obtained result suggests that the higher prolificacy of white sows of mini-pigs of ICiG SB RAS is due to the characteristics of their own organism, and is not related to the prenatal viability of the offspring.

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