Association of IFNA16 and TNFRSF19 Polymorphisms with Intramuscular Fat Content and Fatty Acid Composition in Pigs

Simple Summary Interferon-alpha-16 (IFNA16) and tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 19 (TNFRSF19) are cytokines that may play a role in adipogenesis, lipid accumulation and fatty acid metabolism in the muscle tissue of mammals. However, no association study of the porcine IFNA16 and TNFRSF19 genes with the fatty acid composition of intramuscular fat has been reported in pigs. Therefore, the current study was performed to verify single nucleotide polymorphisms of the porcine IFNA16 and TNFRSF19 genes and to analyze how they affect intramuscular fat content and fatty acid composition in commercial crossbred pigs. The porcine IFNA16 c.413G > A polymorphism was associated with stearic acid, total saturated fatty acids and the ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids. Moreover, the TNFRSF19 c.860G > C polymorphism was associated with intramuscular fat content and arachidic acid levels. The results revealed that the porcine IFNA16 and TNFRSF19 polymorphisms are related to lipid deposition and/or fatty acid composition in the muscle tissue of pigs. These findings suggest that the porcine IFNA16 and TNFRSF19 gene variants may contribute to lipid accumulation and fatty acid deposition in the muscle tissue of pigs. Interferon-alpha-16 (IFNA16) and tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 19 (TNFRSF19) are cytokines that may play a role in adipogenesis and fatness. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the porcine IFNA16 and TNFRSF19 genes were verified and their association with intramuscular fat (IMF) content and fatty acid (FA) composition were evaluated in commercial crossbred pigs. Two non-synonymous SNPs of the porcine IFNA16 c.413G > A and TNFRSF19 c.860G > C loci were detected in commercial crossbred pigs. The porcine IFNA16 c.413G >A polymorphism was significantly associated with stearic acid, total saturated FAs (SFAs), and the ratio of monounsaturated FAs (MUFAs) to SFAs (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the porcine TNFRSF19 c.860G > C polymorphism was found to be significantly associated with IMF content and arachidic acid levels (p < 0.05). The results revealed that porcine IFNA16 and TNFRSF19 polymorphisms are related to IMF content and/or FA composition and affirmed the importance of these cytokine genes as potential candidate genes for lipid deposition and FA composition in the muscle tissue of pigs.