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Published on: September 7, 2013
Pig Coat Color Manipulation by MC1R Gene Editing
Haiwen Zhong1, Jian Zhang2, Cheng Tan1,2
1National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
Abstract:
Black coat color in pigs is determined by the dominant E allele at the MC1R locus. Through comparing MC1R gene sequences between recessive e and dominant E alleles, we identified four missense mutations that could affect MC1R protein function for eumelanin synthesis. With the aim of devising a genetic modification method for pig coat color manipulation, we mutated the e allele in the Duroc breed to the dominant E allele using CRISPR-mediated homologous recombination for the four mutation substitutions at the MC1R locus. The MC1R-modified Duroc pigs generated using the allele replacement strategy displayed uniform black coat color across the body. A genotyping assay showed that the MC1R-modified Duroc pigs had a heterozygous E/e allele at the MC1R locus; in addition, the pigs remained in the Duroc genetic background. Our work offers a gene editing method for pig coat color manipulation, which could value the culture of new pig varieties meeting the needs of diversified market.
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