Native pig and chicken breed database: NPCDB

Abstract

Indigenous (native) breeds of livestock have higher disease resistance and adaptation to the environment due to high genetic diversity. Even though their extinction rate is accelerated due to the increase of commercial breeds, natural disaster, and civil war, there is a lack of well-established databases for the native breeds. Thus, we constructed the native pig and chicken breed database (NPCDB) which integrates available information on the breeds from around the world. It is a nonprofit public database aimed to provide information on the genetic resources of indigenous pig and chicken breeds for their conservation. The NPCDB (http://npcdb.snu.ac.kr/) provides the phenotypic information and population size of each breed as well as its specific habitat. In addition, it provides information on the distribution of genetic resources across the country. The database will contribute to understanding of the breed's characteristics such as disease resistance and adaptation to environmental changes as well as the conservation of indigenous genetic resources. Copyright © 2014 by Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences.