Genomic assessment of suitability of pigs for inclusion in the Pied Danish Pig conservation program – A case study

Breed assignment was performed for pigs putatively belonging to Pied Danish Pigs, an endangered Danish conservation breed. DNA array data were available for the candidates who had insufficient pedigree information. So were data for a reference population of animals from Danish conservation breeds as well as data from a range of Northern European pig breeds, and wild boar. Breed proportions were estimated using the program ADMIXTURE. Half the candidates were found to have at least 95% of their ancestry from Pied Danish Pigs. Several candidates showed varying degrees of admixture with other breeds, most notably Gloucester Old Spot. The same was observed for several of the Pied Danish Pig reference animals. The analyzes identified suitable breeding candidates and prevented unwanted recent admixture from spreading in the breeding population.