BACKGROUND Wool quality is one of the most important economic traits in sheep. The wool fiber is derived from specialized skin cells that are referred to as wool follicles. To understand the roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in wool fiber growth, we detected the expression patterns of miRNAs in wool follicles at the anagen, catagen, and telogen stages from Tibetan sheep through Solexa sequencing. R...

In recent years, chitosan and its different derivatives have been extensively used in surface modification and functional finishing of textiles. In this study, wool yarns used in handmade carpet were treated with different concentrations of chitosan-poly (amidoamine) dendrimer hybrid (Ch-PAMAM) and characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and their dyeing properties were investi...

The desmoglein 4 (DSG4) gene is a potential candidate in the search for genes that may affect wool traits, because of its function. This study aimed to screen for polymorphisms in partial exon 16 and 3ꞌUTR of the sheep desmoglein 4 DSG4 gene, and to test its possible association with wool length and crimp associated with fur. Overall, 326 sheep were scanned via single-strand conformational poly...

Wool fibres have been chemically modified by reduction I chlorination under acidic pH Ipre-swelling in conc. formic acid prior to their dyeing with indigenous reactive dyes of different molecular configurations to enhance the reactive dye uptake on wool fibre substrate. The pretreatment processes are inexpensive, less harmful and less time consuming as against the use of imported special wool r...

The hypothesis that infrequent feeding of sheep supports a higher rate of wool growth than frequent (daily) feeding was examined using oats grain and three roughages of varying protein content. The wool growth of Merino ewes fed every third and sixth day was significantly greater than that of similar ewes fed every day, when averaged over the four diets. Increased wool production due to infrequ...

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...