Identifying the genetic basis of improvement in pigs contributes to our understanding of the role of artificial selection in shaping the genome. Here we employed the Cross Population Extended Haplotype Homozogysity (XPEHH) and the Wright’s fixation index (F_ST) methods to detect trait-specific selection signatures by making phenotypic gradient differential population pairs, and then attempted to map functional genes of six backfat thickness traits in Yorkshire pigs. The results indicate that a total of 283 and 466 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified as trait-specific selection signatures using F_ST and XPEHH, respectively. Functional annotation suggested that the genes overlapping with the trait-specific selection signatures such as OSBPL8, ASAH2, SMCO2, GBE1, and ABL1 are responsible for the phenotypes including fat metabolism, lean body mass and fat deposition, and transport in mouse. Overall, the study developed the methods of gene mapping on the basis of identification of selection signatures. The candidate genes putatively associated with backfat thickness traits can provide important references and fundamental information for future pig-breeding programs.

Investigating the patterns of homozygosity, linkage disequilibrium, effective population size and inbreeding coefficients in livestock contributes to our understanding of the genetic diversity and evolutionary history. Here we used Illumina PorcineSNP50 Bead Chip to identify the runs of homozygosity (ROH) and estimate the linkage disequilibrium (LD) across the whole genome, and then predict the effective population size. In addition, we calculated the inbreeding coefficients based on ROH in 305 Piétrain pigs and compared its effect with the other two types of inbreeding coefficients obtained by different calculation methods. A total of 23,434 ROHs were detected, and the average length of ROH per individual was about 507.27 Mb. There was no regularity on how those runs of homozygosity distributed in genome. The comparisons of different categories suggested that the formation of long ROH was probably related with recent inbreeding events. Although the density of genes located in ROH core regions is lower than that in the other genomic regions, most of them are related with Piétrain commercial traits like meat qualities. Overall, the results provide insight into the way in which ROH is produced and the identified ROH core regions can be used to map the genes associated with commercial traits in domestic animals.