Investigation of serum protein systems in Chinese pigs

Polymorphisms of transferrin (Tf), pre-albumin (Pa), haemopexin (Hpx), ceruloplasmin (Cp) and amylase (Am) of Duroc pigs and Hunan indigenous pigs were investigated using horizontal starch gel electrophoresis. Allele frequencies of Durocs determined in 2004 were compared with frequencies presented in the paper by Baker L.N. (1968) Serum protein variation in Duroc and Hampshire pigs. Vox Sanguinis15, 154-8. The number of serum protein alleles decreased over time and allele frequencies aggregated across certain alleles, including TfB, PaA, Hpx3, CpB and AmB. Differences in allele frequencies, average heterozygosities and standard genetic distances between the Duroc pigs and Hunan indigenous pig populations were examined. The relationship between Durocs and Hunan indigenous pigs was found to be more distant than those among the three Hunan indigenous pig populations.