DNA tests based on coat colour genes for authentication of the raw material of meat products from Iberian pigs

Traceability in the meat supply chain depends on systems based on electronic identification, but DNA tests would be suitable to audit the genetic origin of some labelled meat products. Differentiated labelling is required for highly prized meat products from purebred Iberian pigs and from animals crossbred with the Duroc breed. A panel of breed specific markers based on polymorphisms found in two coat colour genes was investigated in the present study. The genotyping of the G/C or A/G polymorphisms at nucleotide positions -160 and 727 bp of the melanocortin receptor 1 (MC1R) gene can be indistinctly used to discriminate the Duroc specific allele (MC1R*4) from all the alleles (MC1R*3, MC1R*6 and MC1R*7) found in the Iberian breed. It allows one to differentiate unambiguously samples from purebred Iberian and Duroc crossbred genotypes. The additional genotyping of the A/G polymorphism at position 2462 of the pink-eyed dilution (OCA2) gene, four microsatellites (SW24, SW413, SW874 and SW1057) and nine amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers would allow one to detect Duroc crossbred genotypes with a probability of exclusion of the pure Iberian origin greater than 0.968. The validation of batches of marketed products may be achieved with more single tests on pooled DNA samples