Mapping of the porcine oestrogen receptor 2 gene and association study with litter size in Iberian pigs

Genes encoding the oestrogen receptors (ESR) are considered candidate genes for prolificacy traits due to the key role these molecules play in the regulation of reproductive physiology. In this paper, we report the assignment of the pig ESR2 gene to porcine chromosome 1 by radiation hybrid mapping. Most of the ESR2 cDNA was sequenced from Iberian pig ovarian RNA samples and one A/G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was found at exon 5, being associated with a Met/Val substitution at position 949. This SNP was genotyped using a PCR-RFLP (Hsp9 2II) protocol and its potential effect on litter size was evaluated in two Iberian pig populations. However, no statistically significant association between the ESR2 polymorphism and litter size was found.