Are DNA profiles breed-specific? A pilot study in pigs

✍ Scribed by E N Signer; A J Jeffreys; Y E Dubrova

• Book ID: 104457331
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 243 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0268-9146
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2052.2000.00638.x

✦ Synopsis

In this study, DNA fingerprints from 32 unrelated domestic pigs were analysed and screened for breed‐specificity. Three breed groups were analysed: Chinese Meishan, Large White and a collection of other European breeds. Ninety‐three distinct and variable bands were used to estimate genetic distances between the animals. Between the groups these individual genetic distances substantially exceeded those within a group. Linear discriminant analysis showed that the 23 most common DNA fragments revealed sufficient breed‐specificity as to assign each pig correctly to its breed or breed group. These findings, although based on a small sample, indicate that selective use of minisatellite variation in pigs appears to be a valuable novel approach toward the development of breed DNA profiles and the resolution of breed relationships.