Interactions between sire family and production environment (temperate vs. tropical) on performance and thermoregulation responses in growing pigs

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 2 climatic environments (temperate [TEMP] vs. tropical humid [TROP]) on production and thermoregulation traits in growing pigs. A backcross design involving Large White (LW; heat sensitive) and Creole (CR; heat tolerant) pigs was studied. The same 10 F-1 LW x CR boars were mated with related LW sows in each environment. A total of 1,298 backcross pigs (n = 634 pigs from 11 batches for the TEMP environment and n = 664 pigs from 12 batches for the TROP environment) were phenotyped on BW (every 15 d from wk 11 to 23 of age), voluntary feed intake (ADFI, from wk 11 to 23), backfat thickness (BFT; at wk 19 and 23), skin temperature (ST; at wk 19 and 23), and rectal temperature (RT; at wk 19, 21, and 23). The feed conversion ratio was computed for the whole test period (11 to 23 wk). The calculation of the temperature-humidity index showed an average difference of 2.4 degrees C between the TEMP and TROP environments. The ADG and ADFI were higher in the TEMP environment than in the TROP environment (834 vs. 754 g/d and 2.20 vs. 1.80 kg/d, respectively; P < 0.001). Body temperatures were higher in the TROP environment than in the TEMP environment (35.9 vs. 34.8 degrees C for ST and 39.5 vs. 39.3 degrees C for RT, respectively; P < 0.001). Most of the studied traits (i.e., BW, BFT, ADG, ADFI, and RT) were affected by sire family x environment interactions (P < 0.05), resulting in robust and sensitive families. Our results show a family dependency in the relationships between heat resistance and robustness, suggesting the possibility of finding genotypes with high production and low heat sensitivity. Further research is needed to confirm the genetic x environment interaction and to detect QTL related to heat tolerance.