Preliminary study of FMO1, FMO5, CYP21, ESR1, PLIN2 and SULT2A1 as candidate gene for compounds related to boar taint

An association study between polymorphisms of six genes and boar taint related compounds androstenone, skatole and indole was performed in a boar population (n = 370). Significant association (P < 0.05) was detected for SNP of FMO5 (g.494A>G) with all boar taint compounds, SNP of CYP21 (g.3911T>C) with skatole and indole, and SNP of ESR1 (g.672C>T) with androstenone and indole. mRNA expression of CYP21 and ESR1 was higher in CAB (castrated boar) compared to non-castrated boars; whereas, the expression of FMO5 and ESR1 was higher in LBT (low boar taint) compared to HBT (high boar taint) in liver tissue. FMO5, CYP21 and ESR1 proteins were less detectable in HBT compared with LBT and CAB in liver tissues. These findings suggest that FMO5, CYP21 and ESR1 gene variants might have effects on the boar taint compounds.