We investigate the origin of archaeological wool textiles preserved by anoxic waterlogging from seven medieval archaeological deposits in north-western Europe (c. 700-1600 AD), using geospatial patterning in carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and non-exchangeable hydrogen (δ2H) composition of modern and ancient sheep proteins. δ13C, δ15N and δ2H values from archaeological wool keratin (n = 83) and ...

The effects of maternal nutrition on offspring wool production (quality and quantity) were evaluated. Primiparous Rambouillet ewes (n = 84) were randomly allocated to 1 of 6 treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial design. Selenium treatment [adequate Se (ASe, 9.5 μg/kg of BW) vs. high Se (HSe, 81.8 μg/kg of BW)] was initiated at breeding, and maternal nutritional intake [control (CON, 100% of requireme...

Epidemiological studies of workers in wool textile mills have shown a direct relation between the concentration of wool dust in the air and respiratory symptoms. Injurious effects of wool dust on the bronchial epithelium could be important in causing inflammation and irritation. A pulmonary epithelial cell line in vitro was therefore used to study the toxic effects of wool dust. Cells of the A5...

The effect of melatonin on wool quality and thyroid function was studied. Ten ewes received a melatonin implant (M) on March 2004, and 10 ewes which were not implanted served as control (C). At monthly intervals over 12 months, f ibre length and growth were calculated, and plasma thyroxine (T4) concentrations were measured. Wool samples (~N = 2000 fibres) were collected and fibre diameter, stan...

Wool scouring sludge is the solid waste product of anaerobic treatment of wool scouring effluent. It has a high wool grease content (1316% of the dry weight, 45 -55% of the organic matter), resulting in a low melting point (approx. 45°C). The low melting point, the putty-like physical properties and the odourous. unstable nature of the sludge makes it unsuitable for land application in its raw ...

Clean wool colour (CWC) is an important wool price determinant and has been related to suint characteristics, i.e. sudoriparous and sebaceous gland secretions, such as suint percentage and suint K content. In this work heritability, phenotypic and genetic correlations among wool colour and skin traits were examined. The genetic estimates were assessed by Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) pro...

Keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) are structural components of wool and hair fibres, and are believed to play a role in defining the physico-mechanical properties of the wool fibre. In this study, the putative ovine homologue of the human KAP26-1 gene (KRTAP26-1) was sequenced and four variants (named A-D) were identified. The sequences shared some identity with each other and with other KRTAP...

Wool grown by ewes with chronic lupinosis, induced by injections of phomopsins, was compared to that grown by control ewes and by ewes pair-fed to the feed intake of the phomopsin-treated ewes, during and after the period of phomopsin administration. Wool growth was not different between the groups during treatment. Fibre diameter and length of wool grown by the phomopsin-treated ewes were redu...