Source: http://nationalhogfarmer.com/health/...ptibility-prrs

Scientists Identify Pigs with Reduced Susceptibility to PRRS
Joe VanSickle
Mar. 15, 2012 1:11pm


...The discovery of the genetic marker — called a quantitative trait locus (QTL) — associated with resistance to PRRS virus infection, is a collaborative effort that targets the elimination of PRRS. The research team includes scientists at ARS, Kansas State University (KSU) and Iowa State University (ISU). The research is funded by the Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) program, supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA); the PRRS Host Genetics Consortium (PHGC), a nationwide effort originally funded by the National Pork Board; and the U.S. Swine Genome coordinator for the National Animal Genome Research Program.

Importantly, the QTL discovered on swine chromosome 4 (SSC4), also is associated with improved growth of pigs infected with the PRRS virus, says Joan Lunney, an ARS chemist at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD. Results indicate a positive effect of the favorable SSC4 allele for both PRRS resistance and weight gain. An allele is an alternative form of a gene that controls specific traits...

...Results of this research were published in the Journal of Animal Science.

For more information, contact Lunney at USDA-ARS Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Bldg. 1040 BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705.