Evaluation of Coat Color Inheritance and Production Performance for Cossbreed from Chinese Indigenous Chenghua Pig Crossbred with Berkshire

Abstract Background: Crossbreeding programs have been used extensively to improve the native pig’s overall production performance while maintaining superior meat quality. Chenghua (CH) pig is a traditional Chinese indigenous breed with superior meat quality characteristic but poor growth and carcass traits. In recent years, we implemented Berkshire × Chenghua (BC) crossbreeding scheme and have bred the new crossbreed BC pig through selection for four generations. The present objective was to determine the black coat inheritance and evaluate production performance for crossbreed BC F4 pigs in comparison with those of control purebred CH pigs. Results: Coat color of crossbreed BC pigs exhibits a “dominant black” hereditary pattern. Twelve mutation sites for MC1R gene were identified between “uniform black type” and “domino black spotting type” pigs and all piglets derived from boars or sows genotyped ED1ED1 homozygous for MC1R gene showed uniform black coat phenotype. The crossbreed BC F4 gilts displayed a relatively good reproductive performance, showing a higher litter (total no. born: 12.06 and no. born alive: 11.14) and tear size (13.14), heavier at farrowing litter (11.92 kg) and at weaning litter (65.87 kg) than purebred CH gilts, but they reached puberty later than CH gilts (178.44 vs.125.45). The crossbreed BC F4 pigs exhibited improved growth and carcass characteristics with a higher average daily live weight gain (535.28 g vs. 447.11 g), lower feed-to-gain ratio (3.06 vs. 4.03), and higher carcass lean meat rate (50.76% vs. 42.58%) than purebred CH pigs. Importantly, similar to those of purebred CH pigs, the crossbreed BC F4 pigs produced super meat-quality characteristics, showing ideal pH and meat-color values, high intramuscular fat content (3.24%) and water-holding capacity (drip loss: 1.68%), and acceptable muscle-fibre parameters. C18:1, C16:0, C18:0, and C18:2 were the main fatty acids in M. longissimus lumborum in the two breeds, and a very high polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio of ~0.39 was observed in the BC F4 pigs. Conclusion: These results indicate that crossbreed BC F4 pigs exhibit a uniform black coat pattern and acceptable total production performance, and it can be extensively used in commercial pig production to provide high-quality niche products.