A Comparative Study on Reproductive Performance of Large White Boars Cloned by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer and Growth Performance of Their Progeny

The success of cloning animal paves a new way to increase livestock production and conserve genetic resources. After the success of first cloned pig production, a large number of research reports related to cloned pig have been published. However, a few researches into reproductive ability of cloned pig were conducted. The evaluation of reproductive performance of cloning pig is of great importance in practical application for breeding and reproduction. The purpose of present study was to compare reproductive performance of cloned Large White boars with non-clones. First, cloned pigs were produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technique. After confirmation of cloning success, two groups (clones versus non-clones) were created for a comparison. The semen quality and reproductive performance of pigs derived from SCNT were tested. Growth performance of their progeny was also compared. The results showed that there were no significant differences in semen quality and reproductive performance between clones and non-clones. The parameters related to growth performance such as weight and average daily gain were similar in both groups. To sum up, no remarkable differences were observed between clones and non-clones, indicating that SCNT technology could be applied not only to increase swine production but also to preserve and spread superior Large White pig species.