Genetic parameters and genome-wide association analysis of service sire effect on litter size and its relationship with boar semen quality in three terminal sire lines

Abstract This study aimed to estimate the genetic parameters for service sire effects on the number born alive (NBA) and its relationship with semen quality traits. Data of 6,416, 23,188, and 48,890 litter size records collected between 2020 and 2024 from three purebred terminal sire lines were analyzed. The number of sows was 3,071, 11,819, and 24,089, with 197, 554, and 891 service sires for the three respective lines. There were 1,424,858, 4,344,630, and 2,146,583 animals in the pedigree of which 67,990, 259,250, and 365,392 were genotyped and imputed up to 50K SNPs. The service sire and dam effects were modeled as additive genetic effects, considering a covariance structure among them, given by the relationship matrix. The model also included fixed effects of contemporary group and parity group with random permanent environmental effects for service sire and dam. Genetic parameters were estimated using the AIREML option in the BLUPF90+ software, and GEBVs were generated by ssGBLUP with the algorithm for proven and young (APY). Heritability for the service sire effect ranged from 0.01 to 0.03, and the heritability for the dam effect ranged from 0.09 to 0.15, with genetic correlations ranging from -0.20 to 0.37. A single-step genome-wide association study (ssGWAS) was also performed, and no strong signals were detected for service sire effects on NBA. Sperm motility (MOT) and total abnormal morphology (ABN_MOR) GEBVs from the three lines were estimated based on about 57,500 to 608,996 ejaculates recorded using the computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) system from 1,698 to 29,095 boars collected from 2013 to 2025. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.10 to 0.12 for motility and from 0.17 to 0.28 for total abnormal morphology. The correlations between service sire GEBV for NBA and semen quality were low but in the favorable direction. Results suggest that although paternal genetic contributions to litter size were small compared to maternal genetic contributions, selecting on service sire effects on litter size in addition to semen quality traits will improve overall reproductive success.