Genomic architecture of heritability and genetic correlations for intramuscular and back fat contents in Duroc pigs

Genetic parameters such as heritability and correlations of fat traits in a Duroc population were dissected using molecular markers. The heritabilities of intramuscular fat in 2 muscles, the gluteus medius and LM, and back fat were 0.54, 0.48, and 0.23, respectively. The genetic correlations were well estimated with standardized SNP effects, being 0.65 between intramuscular fat traits and ~0.37 between any intramuscular fat trait and back fat. Genetic correlations were overestimated when ignoring molecular information. Twelve chromosomes showed additive genetic variance for intramuscular fat compared with 8 for back fat. Population structure was accommodated using 4 different models. The number of significant, P < 5 × 10-5 (suggestive, P < 2 × 10-3), SNP varied across models and ranged from 0 to 4 (2 to 261) for intramuscular fat in the gluteus medius, from 0 to 57 (9 to 564) for intramuscular fat in the LM, and from 3 to 4 (22 to 168) for back fat. Several SNP showed significant deviations from an additive mode of action. Only 2 SNP significantly affected 2 traits simultaneously. © 2013 American Society of Animal Science.