GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND PIG MEAT QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

The main goals in pig breeding have for many years been to improve growth rate, feed conversion and carcass composition. There have been less efforts to improve meat quality parameters (WHC, pH, tenderness, colour etc.) but the main contribution has been a reduction of stress susceptibility and PSE meat. Unfortunately, the quantitative genetic approach has yielded few clues regarding the fundamental genetic changes that accompanied the selection of animal for superior carcass attributes. While mapping efforts are making significant major effects on carcass and his quality composition DNA test would be available to detect some positive or negative alleles. There are clear breed effects on meat quality, which in some cases are fully related to the presence of a single gene with major effect (RYR1, MYF4, H-FABP, LEPR, IGF2). Molecular biology methods provides excellent opportunities to improve meat quality in selection schemes within breeds and lines. Selection on major genes will not only increase average levels of quality but also decrease variability (ei increase uniformity). The aim of this paper is to discuss there genetic and non-genetic opportunities