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Identification of chromosomal locations associated with tail biting and being a victim of tail-biting behaviour in the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus)

  • Animal Genetics • Original Paper
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Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify loci associated with tail biting or being a victim of tail biting in Norwegian crossbred pigs using a genome-wide association study with PLINK case–control analysis. DNA was extracted from hair or blood samples collected from 98 trios of crossbred pigs located across Norway. Each trio came from the same pen and consisted of one pig observed to initiate tail biting, one pig which was the victim of tail biting and a control pig which was not involved in either behaviour. DNA was genotyped using the Illumina PorcineSNP60 BeadChip whole-genome single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay. After quality assurance filtering, 53,952 SNPs remained comprising 74 animals (37 pairs) for the tail biter versus control comparison and 53,419 SNPs remained comprising 80 animals (40 pairs) for the victim of tail biting versus control comparison. An association with being a tail biter was observed on Sus scrofa chromosome 16 (SSC16; p = 1.6 × 10−5) and an unassigned chromosome (p = 3.9 × 10−5). An association with being the victim of tail biting was observed on Sus scrofa chromosomes 1 (SSC1; p = 4.7 × 10−5), 9 (SSC9; p = 3.9 × 10−5), 18 (SSC18; p = 7 × 10−5 for 9,602,511 bp, p = 3.4 × 10−5 for 9,653,881 bp and p = 5.3 × 10−5 for 29,577,783 bp) and an unassigned chromosome (p = 6.1 × 10−5). An r 2 = 0.96 and a D′ = 1 between the two SNPs at 9 Mb on SSC18 indicated extremely high linkage disequilibrium, suggesting that these two markers represent a single locus. These results provide evidence of a moderate genetic association between the propensity to participate in tail-biting behaviour and the likelihood of becoming a victim of this behaviour.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Allison V. Grove, AG Research, LLC for her assistance with the manuscript preparation. We are also grateful to the producers who contributed by sending us the hair samples. This study was performed within the project “NKJ 129: Tail biting and tail docking in pigs—biological mechanisms, prevention, treatment and economical aspects”, supported by the Nordic Joint Committee for Agricultural Research (NKJ) and financed by the Norwegian Research Council.

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  1. Adroaldo J. Zanella

    Present address: Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Animal and Veterinary Science Group, Scottish Agricultural College, SAC - Roslin Institute Building, Easter Bush, Midlothian, EH259P6, United Kingdom

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deparment of Animal Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

    Kaitlin Wilson, Ricardo Zanella & Holly Louise Neibergs

  2. Department of Production Animal Clinical Science, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, P.O. Box 8146 Dep N-0033, Oslo, Norway

    Carlos Ventura, Hanne Lind Johansen, Tore Framstad, Andrew Janczak & Adroaldo J. Zanella

  3. Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 8146 Dep N-0033, Oslo, Norway

    Adroaldo J. Zanella

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  1. Kaitlin Wilson
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Correspondence to Holly Louise Neibergs.

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Wilson, K., Zanella, R., Ventura, C. et al. Identification of chromosomal locations associated with tail biting and being a victim of tail-biting behaviour in the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus). J Appl Genetics 53, 449–456 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13353-012-0112-2

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