The effect of the malignant hyperthermia genotype as determined by a restriction endonuclease assay on carcass characteristics of commercial crossbred pigs

Abstract

In 349 crossbred pigs a restriction endonuclease assay used to detect the malignant hyperthermia genotype determined the presence of 84.5% NN pigs, 14.9% Nn pigs and 0.6% nn pigs. A subsample of 149 pigs demonstrated that Nn pigs had a 1% advantage in carcass yield over NN pigs and that meat color was not affected by genotype. Key words: Pigs, carcass, meat, halothane, restriction endonuclease