Characterization of a Korean traditional porcine breed using microsatellite markers and the establishment of an individual identification system

This study was conducted to analyze the genetic characteristics of Korean Native Pigs (KNP), and to establish an individual identification system comprising many microsatellite markers located on different pig autosomes. Genotype data from 13 microsatellites typed in 446 animals was used to determine the validation of a method of individual identification in 4 KNP. A total of 112 alleles of the 13 microsatellites were detected and average heterozygosities (polymorphic information content) ranged from 0.286 (0.423) to 0.686 (0.796) in this study. Comparing the pattern of allele frequency among the KNP, Yorkshire, Landrace and Duroc breeds, there was specific differentiation between populations at multi-allelic loci. The cumulative power of discrimination (CPD) was 99.999% by including 10 microsatellite loci for the individual identification system. The probability that two different individuals incidentally have same genotype was estimated to be 0.36×10^-9. The system employing these 10 markers therefore proved to be applicable to the individual identification of KNP.