G C A T T A C G G C A T genes Article Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Immunity-Related Genes and Their Effects on Immunophenotypes in Different Pig Breeds Ann Ying-An Chen 1,2 , Chao-Wei Huang 3, Shyh-Hwa Liu 4, An-Chi Liu 1 and Hso-Chi Chaung 1,2,* 1 Research Center for Animal Biologics, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung 912, Taiwan;
[email protected] (A.Y.-A.C.);
[email protected] (A.-C.L.) 2 Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung 912, Taiwan 3 Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung 912, Taiwan;
[email protected] 4 Department of Animal Science, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung 912, Taiwan;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Enhancing resistance and tolerance to pathogens remains an important selection objective in the production of livestock animals. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) vary gene expression at the transcriptional level, influencing an individual’s immune regulation and susceptibility to diseases. In this study, we investigated the distribution of SNP sites in immune-related genes and their correlations with cell surface markers of immune cells within purebred (Taiwan black, Duroc, Landrace and Yorkshire) and crossbred (Landrace-Yorkshire) pigs. Thirty-nine SNPs of immune- related genes, including 11 cytokines, 5 chemokines and 23 Toll-like receptors (TLRs) (interferon-α Citation: Chen, A.Y.-A.; Huang, and γ (IFN-α, γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating C.-W.; Liu, S.-H.; Liu, A.-C.; Chaung, factor (GM-CSF), Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and TLR3, TLR4, TLR7, TLR8, and H.-C.