Genetic parameters for different types of medullated fibre in Alpacas.

J Anim Breed Genet

Departamento de Producción Animal, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Published: September 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study focuses on enhancing the quality of alpaca textile fiber by reducing objectionable coarse fibers that cause itching.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 3149 alpaca fiber samples to estimate genetic parameters related to different fiber types and their diameters.
  • Findings suggest that targeting non-medullated and fragmented medullated fibers as key selection criteria in breeding programs could improve overall fiber quality by decreasing undesirable fiber types.

Article Abstract

The quality of alpaca textile fibre has great potential, especially if objectionable fibres (coarse and medullated fibres) that cause itching are reduced, considering that objectionable fibres can be identified by diameter and medullation types. The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for medullar types and their respective diameters to evaluate the possibility of incorporating them as selection criteria in alpaca breeding programmes. The research used 3149 alpaca fibre samples collected from 2020 to 2022, from a population of 1626 Huacaya type alpacas. The heritability and correlations of the percentages of non-medullated (NM), fragmented medulle (FM), uncontinuous medullated (UM), continuous medullated (CM), and strongly medullated (SM) fibres were analysed, also the fibre diameter (FD) for each of the medullation types. The heritability estimated for medullation types were 0.25 ± 0.01, 0.18 ± 0.01, 0.10 ± 0.01, 0.20 ± 0.01 and 0.11 ± 0.01 for NM, FM, UM, CM and SM, respectively. The genetic correlations for medullation categories ranged from 0.15 ± 0.03 to 0.66 ± 0.02 (in absolute values). The heritabilility estimated for fibre diameter (FD) of each of the medullation types were 0.29 ± 0.03, 0.27 ± 0.02, 0.35 ± 0.02, 0.30 ± 0.02, 0.25 ± 0.02 and 0.10 ± 0.02 for FD, FD_NM, FD_FM, FD_UM, FD_CM and FD_SM, respectively. The genetic correlations for fibre diameter of the medullation types ranged from 0.04 ± 0.04 to 0.97 ± 0.01. FD, NM and FM are the main traits to be used as selection criteria under a genetic index, since they would reduce fibre diameter, and also increase NM and FM, and, in addition reducing indirectly CM, SM, and SM_FD. Therefore, the quality of alpaca fibre could be improved.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbg.12861DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

medullation types
20
diameter medullation
16
fibre diameter
16
genetic parameters
8
fibre
8
quality alpaca
8
objectionable fibres
8
medullated fibres
8
selection criteria
8
alpaca fibre
8

Similar Publications

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

Genes (Basel)

August 2024

International Wool Research Institute, Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China.

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.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Genetic parameters for different types of medullated fibre in Alpacas.

J Anim Breed Genet

September 2024

Departamento de Producción Animal, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on enhancing the quality of alpaca textile fiber by reducing objectionable coarse fibers that cause itching.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 3149 alpaca fiber samples to estimate genetic parameters related to different fiber types and their diameters.
  • Findings suggest that targeting non-medullated and fragmented medullated fibers as key selection criteria in breeding programs could improve overall fiber quality by decreasing undesirable fiber types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Genome-wide DNA methylation and transcriptome analyses reveal the key gene for wool type variation in sheep.

J Anim Sci Biotechnol

July 2023

State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Rd, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China.

Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers discovered lambs with ancestral-like coarse wool while breeding modern fine wool sheep, revealing them as a distinct variant confirmed through whole-genome resequencing.
  • * The SOSTDC1 gene was identified as a critical factor in the wool type difference, showing significantly higher expression in coarse wool lambs, suggesting its role in wool follicle development tied to methylation patterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The spatial arrangement of cells in a 3D-printed biomimetic spinal cord promotes directional differentiation and repairs the motor function after spinal cord injury.

Biofabrication

August 2021

International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Spinal Cord Injury, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, People's Republic of China.

Spinal cord injury is a permanent destructive disease that causes devastating neurologic deficits and disability. Long-term complications are associated with low prognosis, mortality, and decreased quality of life. The functional recovery depends on the regeneration of neurons and the growth of medullated axons.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Analysis of the wool thickness and medullation characteristics based on sex and color in a herd of alpacas in Poland.

Arch Anim Breed

May 2021

Warsaw University of Life Science - SGGW, Institute of Animal Sciences, Department of Animal Breeding, Ciszewskiego 8, 02 - 786 Warsaw, Poland.

The objective of this study was to analyze the thickness and medullation characteristics of the wool of a herd of Huacaya alpacas kept in Poland. Wool samples were collected from 36 adult alpacas, including 22 females and 14 males. Light (15 animals) and dark (21 animals) color varieties of wool were considered in this research.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!