Identifying SNPs and candidate genes for three litter traits using single-step GWAS across six parities in Landrace...

Total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA), and litter weight born alive (LWB) are critically important traits in pig production. The sow's parity is one of the major factors influencing litter traits. Because of monogenic or polygenic contributions and the presence of temporal gene effects in different sows' parities, it is difficult to clarify the biological and genetic background. To systematically explore the genetic mechanism of litter traits, we conducted 18 GWASs using single-step GWAS (ssGWAS) based on two breeds (908 Landrace and 1,130 Large White sow litter records) for each litter trait in different parities. A total of 300 Landrace and 300 Large White sows were genotyped by sequencing (GBS). ssGWAS was performed separately for each breed and each parity due to population stratification and temporal gene effect. In summary, we identified 80 (15 for Landrace and 65 for Large White), 227 (52 for Landrace, 175 for Large White), and 187 (34 for Landrace, 153 for Large White) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) affecting TNB, NBA, and LWB, respectively. Of them, we suggest that a total of 22 loci (SSC1: 125098202, SSC1: 117560058, SSC14: 147794697, SSC8: 84823302, SSC9: 143554876, and SSC9: 138766097 for Landrace; SSC1: 4023577, SSC1: 3859573, SSC1: 4891063, SSC16: 5197665, SSC10: 32050819, SSC13: 13552924, SSC13: 92819, SSC17: 3579607, SSC13: 196698221, SSC7: 30918403, SSC16: 46221484, SSC16: 46169204, SSC2: 41988642, SSC2: 44475457, SSC2: 42521875, and SSC7: 58411951 for Large White) are shared by TNB, NBA, and LWB. These results indicate the existence of gene temporal effect in each parity. Furthermore, our findings suggest four interesting candidate genes (FBXL7, ALDH1A2, LEPR, and DDX1) associated with litter traits in different parities that have a major effect on embryonic development progression. In conclusion, 22 crucial SNPs and four interesting candidate genes were identified for three litter traits across six parities. These findings advance our understanding of the genetic architecture of litter traits and confirm the presence of temporal gene effects in different parities. Importantly, functional validation studies for findings of particular interest are recommended in litter traits.