Test reveals genetic defect that causes infertility in pigs

In the late 1990s the Finnish Yorkshire pig population was threatened by a genetic defect which spread at an alarming rate and led to infertility. The defective KPL2 gene in porcine chromosome 16 caused pig spermatozoa to be short-tailed and immotile. The recessive genetic defect did not cause any other symptoms in the pigs. Research Scientist Anu Sironen of MTT Agrifood Research Finland mapped the defective gene in her doctoral research. Sequence analysis of the candidate gene KPL2 revealed the presence of an inserted retrotransposon, a DNA sequence which moves around independently in the host genome.