Bai Lingrong, Zhou Huitong, Tao Jinzhong, Hickford Jon G H
International Wool Research Institute, Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China.
Gene-Marker Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Apr 7;15(7):1069. doi: 10.3390/ani15071069.
Understanding the genetic factors that influence wool quality is essential for enhancing wool quality and uniformity. This study investigated the gene in Chinese Tan sheep, a breed known for its unique wool characteristics. We analysed 232 sheep and revealed five previously identified sequence variants of and then modelled to ascertain whether there was any association between the nucleotide sequence variation and variation in mean fibre diameter (MFD), fibre diameter standard deviation (FDSD), coefficient of variation of fibre diameter (CVFD), and mean fibre curvature (MFC). Twelve genotypes were observed, with the five variants having frequencies that ranged from 64.0% to 1.1%. Among the four variants with frequencies above 5%, nucleotide sequence variation was associated with heterotypic hair fibre diameter variation. The most common variant () was linked to increased FDSD and CVFD, while two other variants ( and ) revealed trends towards being associated with decreased CVFD. No associations were found with variation in the fine wool fibres from the Tan sheep. This suggests that plays a role in regulating heterotypic hair fibre diameter variability and that it could possibly be a gene marker for improving wool traits.
了解影响羊毛品质的遗传因素对于提高羊毛品质和均匀度至关重要。本研究对具有独特羊毛特性的中国滩羊的基因进行了调查。我们分析了232只绵羊，发现了五个先前已鉴定的序列变异，然后进行建模以确定核苷酸序列变异与平均纤维直径（MFD）、纤维直径标准差（FDSD）、纤维直径变异系数（CVFD）和平均纤维曲率（MFC）的变异之间是否存在关联。观察到12种基因型，这五个变异的频率范围为64.0%至1.1%。在频率高于5%的四个变异中，核苷酸序列变异与异型毛发纤维直径变异相关。最常见的变异（）与FDSD和CVFD的增加有关，而另外两个变异（和）显示出与CVFD降低相关的趋势。未发现与滩羊细羊毛纤维变异有关联。这表明在调节异型毛发纤维直径变异性方面发挥作用，并且它可能是改善羊毛性状的一个基因标记。
