Jianbai Xiang Pigs black-and-white-Epidermis transcriptome sequencing

Jianbai Xiang Pig is a famous small pig in the world. Because the head and tail of the pig are black and the middle is white, it is called "two black" in Jianhe. The skin is tender and unique in flavor, but the mechanism of epidermis color deposition has not been reported. epidermis color is one of the important breed characteristics of pigs, and it plays various roles in the production of a pig. For example, epidermis color can be used as a genetic marker, which can be used to assess the breed purity, genetic stability, and relatedness, and determine the type of hybrid combination in the cultivation of matching lines. With the wide application of pig heterosis, the selection of the parental species has also become a trait to be seriously considered for commercial pigs. Therefore, it is of great significance to reveal the genetic mechanism of epidermis color-related genes. Because of the similarity between pig and human epidermis, the Jianbai Xiang pig can be used as an ideal model to study epidermis melanocytes and the mechanism of melanin deposition.