The influence of CAST/MspI, HinfI, RsaI polymorphism on production traits in pigs

Abstract

The aim of this study was to perform the CAST gene polymorphism genotyping and to verify its possible influence on the quantitative and qualitative indicators characterizing carcass value in pigs. The study found a significant effect of the CAST gene on carcass value. In the case of alelle A present in the CAST/HinfI gene there was a higher lean meat share (i.e. lower fat content) and therefore the detected quality of pork meat was lower. The significant differences were found between the homozygotes AA and heterozygotes AB, mainly in the amount of fat content (P?0.05). Concerning the CAST/MspI gene, it was found that genotype CD caused higher lean meat share due to the higher shares of muscles in the main meat parts. However higher lean meat share does lead to lower quality of the meat. Another discovered influence was that of the allele D, which was associated with the intramuscular fat content (IMF) in the neck (P?0.05). Our results also show signifiant influence (P?0.05) of the allele C on the qualitative indicators of pork meat (MS EC50). Concerning the CAST/RsaI polymorphism, the study proved that this polymorphism doesn?t influence any of the monitored qualitative parameters.