Abstract: The invention relates to methods to select breeding animals or animals destined for slaughter for having desired genotypic or potential phenotypic properties, in particular related to muscle mass and/or fat deposition. The invention provides a method for selecting a pig for having desired genotypic or potential phenotypic properties comprising testing a sample from said pig for the presence of a quantitative trait locus (QTL) located at a Sus scrofa chromosome 2 mapping at position 2p1.7.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for selecting a domestic animal having desired genotypic properties comprising testing the animal for the presence of a parentally imprinted quantitative trait locus (QTL). The invention further relates to the use of an isolated and/or recombinant nucleic acid comprising a QTL or functional fragment derived therefrom to select a breeding animal or animal destined for slaughter having desired genotypic or potential phenotypic properties. In particular, the properties are related to muscle mass, fat deposition, sow prolificacy, and/or sow longevity.