Genomic analyses of three-way crossbred pigs

Crossbreeding is a classic and effective method aimed at improving crossbred performance for poultry and livestock, especially growth rate, reproductive performance, production performance (meat, egg and milk) and disease resistance. For pork production, a terminal crossbreeding system with three pig breeds, namely, Duroc x (Landrace x Yorkshire) (DLY) is generally used to produce terminal crossbred pigs with stable and prominent performance. Nonetheless, studies about genetic information transmission and gene expression pattern of DLY have been limited. In this study, we analyzed whole-genome sequencing and transcriptome data to provide insights into genetic architecture of DLY three-way crossbred pigs. This study set an excellent model of crossbreeding research for other agricultural animals and is valuable for pig breeding and production in the future.