Chinese Tibetan pigs are a special Chinese indigenous pig breed, which are distributed in high-altitude areas of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with cold climate. They are raised on pasture all year round (Cheng, 1984). Their immunity and disease resistance are very strong; however the mechanism is not yet studied until now. It was hypothesized that these characteristics may be related to the higher expression of β-defensin genes. It was determined that gene expression for BD-1, 2 and 3 of Tibetan pigs and crossbred pigs and found characteristic expression patterns for three β-defensins, and compared three β-defensins gene expression in tissues between the two breeds. It was found that pBD-1 and 3 had higher expression level in Tibetan pigs than those in crossbred pigs. But pBD-2 had lower expression level in Tibetan pigs than that in crossbred pigs. This could reflect a potential for upregulation of pBD-2 upon bacterial infection. The higher expression of pBD-1 and 3 might be a direct mechanism by which the Tibetan pigs have higher immunity and disease resistance than crossbred pigs. Therefore, pBD-2 may contribute to Tibetan pig’s immunity and disease resistance by other mechanism, which needs further research.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci