Effects of Gene Variation on Wool Traits in Chinese Tan Sheep.

Chinese Tan sheep lambs are recognised for having tight 'spring-like' curly wool when young, but this phenotype disappears with age. This wool consists of shorter, fine wool fibres (which are usually unmedullated) and heterotypic hair fibres (which are frequently medullated), which are referred to as 'halo hair'. Both the wool and hair fibres consist of α-keratin proteins embedded in a keratin-associated protein (KAP) matrix. Of these KAPs, the KAP20-1 gene (designated ) and its effect on four fibre traits (mean fibre curvature, mean fibre diameter, fibre diameter standard deviation, and coefficient of variation of fibre diameter) of Tan lambs was studied. Seven previously identified variants (, , , , , , and ) of were revealed, but the previously identified variant was not present. Of the seven variants detected, only two ( and ) were common and present at frequencies greater than 5%, and the effect of these on the fibre traits of the finer wool fibres was assessed. It was found that variant was associated with an increased mean fibre curvature in these wool fibres. This suggests that might possibly be expressed differentially in the two fibre types, which may be of future value in breeding.