Characterization of a line of pigs previously selected for increased litter size for RBP4 and follistatin.

The objective of this study was to determine if selection response for increased litter size in pigs could be partially attributed to three type 1 marker loci coding for genes known to affect litter size: oestrogen receptor (ESR), retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) and follistatin (FS). In the high litter size line (LS), pigs from the largest litters, based on number of pigs born alive (NBA), were retained to parent the next generation. A randomly selected control line (LC) was maintained.