Comparison of Growth Performance and Plasma Metabolomics between Two Sire-Breeds of Pigs in China

Abstract

The Yorkshire pigs, renowned for their remarkable growth rate, low feed conversion ratio (FCR), and high meat production, emerge as a novel preference for paternal breeding. In this study, we found that purebred paternal Yorkshire pigs (PY) surpass the purebred Duroc breed in terms of growth rate. Specifically, purebred PY attain a weight of 100 kg at an earlier age compared to purebred Duroc (Male, 145.07 vs. 162.91; Female, 145.91 vs. 167.57; p-value < 0.01). Furthermore, different hybrid combinations suggest that offspring involving purebred PY exhibit superior growth performance. Compared with purebred Duroc, the offspring of purebred PY have an earlier age in days (173.23 vs. 183.54; p-value < 0.05) at the same slaughter weight. The changes of plasma metabolites of 60-day-old purebred boars in the two sire-breeds showed that 1335 metabolites in plasma were detected. Compared with Duroc, 28 metabolites were down-regulated and 49 metabolites were up-regulated in PY. Principal component analysis (PCA) discerned notable dissimilarities in plasma metabolites between the two sire-breeds of pigs. The levels of glycerol 3-phosphate choline, cytidine, guanine, and arachidonic acid increased significantly (p-value < 0.05), exerting an impact on their growth and development. According to our results, PY could be a new paternal option as a terminal sire in three-way cross system.