<b>Genetic and phenotypic parameter estimation for fatty acid composition and fat deposition traits in Chinese Etong Two-End-Black pigs</b>

Fatty acid composition directly affects pork nutrition and flavor, and it is closely related with fat deposition trait. The objective of this study was to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for fatty acid composition and fat deposition traits in Chinese Etong Two-End-Black (ET) pigs. The longissimus dorsi muscle samples were collected from 277 ET pigs. Fatty acid composition and fat deposition traits were determined, and genetic parameters were estimated using bivariate restricted maximum likelihood algorithm in GCTA software. Among 17 detected fatty acids, linolenic C18:2(n6c) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) accounted for 18.69 ± 0.26% and 21.33 ± 0.27%, respectively; and rare α-linolenic acid C18:3(n3) and γ-linolenic acid C18:3(n6) were also detected in ET. Heritability for fatty acid composition trait was estimated to be low or moderate, ranging from 0.05 ± 0.11 to 0.32 ± 0.16 (P &lt; 0.05), among the tested fatty acids, the heritability of C18:2(n6c) and PUFA was 0.27 ± 0.15 (P &lt; 0.05) and 0.32 ± 0.16 (P &lt; 0.05), respectively. Moreover, there was high genetic correlation between fatty acid composition trait and fat deposition trait. Overall, ET pigs had rich fatty acid composition and high content of PUFA. The estimations of phenotypic and genetic parameters for fatty acid composition and fat deposition traits will provide valuable reference for genetic improvement of related traits and breeding programs of ET pigs.