PCR-RFLP assays to detect recessive lethal alleles in Landrace and Duroc pigs in Vietnam

Increasing the number of live-born piglets per litter is one of the major objectives of pig breeding programs. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in polynucleotide kinase-phosphatase ( PNKP ), RNA polymerase I subunit B ( POLR1B ), ribosome biogenesis ( URB1 ), and transcriptional adaptors ADA2 ( TADA2A genes are recessive lethal alleles that are associated with embryonic lethality, which affects the reproductive performance and animal welfare of pig populations). No assay is available to screen for the recessive haplotypes of these 4 SNPs in pig populations. We successfully developed and verified a rapid, simple, and cost-effective PCR–restriction-fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay for genotyping SNPs in PNKP , POLR1B , URB1 genes in Landrace and TADA2A genes in Duroc pigs in Vietnam. Our PCR-RFLP approach could potentially be applied in screening programs on a larger scale to improve the reproductive performance of commercial pig populations.