Systems genetics of obesity in an F2 pig model by genome-wide association, genetic network, and pathway analyses

Obesity is a complex condition with world-wide exponentially rising prevalence rates, linked with severe diseases like Type 2 Diabetes. Economic and welfare consequences have led to a raised interest in a better understanding of the biological and genetic background. To date, whole genome investigations focusing on single genetic variants have achieved limited success, and the importance of including genetic interactions is becoming evident. Here, the aim was to perform an integrative genomic analysis in an F2 pig resource population that was constructed with an aim to maximize genetic variation of obesity-related phenotypes and genotyped using the 60K SNP chip.