Small ruminants fleece: Genetic and genomic researches in Europe

International audience

English. In Europe, only few farms are specialized in the production of animal fibres. Indeed, the production of fibre is no longer profitable except when producers respond to niche markets to obtain a premium price of their products. These niche markets mainly concern the production of goat mohair and cashmere wool, Alpaca wool and fine or coloured sheep wool. Our paper describes some genetic and genomic opportunities to improve animal fleece within the European context of animal fibre production.To meet niche markets, genetic selection schemes of involved breeds could be classically developed using phenotypes and pedigree-predicted breeding values to improve fleece quality and therefore strengthen the profitability of fibre production. This is for example the case for angora goats in France. Indeed, a national selection scheme is currently running, based on an open nucleus of about 5000 animals including 1500 breeding does, an on-farm performing recording system for production traits (fleece weight and objective fibre measurements), and a national genetic database allowing a genetic evaluation. Similar programmes based on the selection of traits of interest have been successfully developed for angora and cashmere goats, angora rabbits and South American camelids in several European countries.On the other hand, recent genomic researches in small ruminants using SNP chip allowed the identification of causal mutations and their use in gene/genomic selection to adapt animal production. Thereby, the causal mutation influencing the fleece type in Romane lamb and their survival was identified within IRF2BP2 gene (corresponding to the insertion of an antisense EIF2S2 retrogene into the 3' UTR of the IRF2BP2 gene). Lambs owning the hairy allele are more adapted to survive around birth in cold harsh environment than ones owning a woolly fleece. This mutation is currently genotyped and available in France. Finally, interests about shedding or wool free sheep breeds are emerging in Europe. A new genetic line was creating through the introgression of wool shedding genes in a high potential breed. Searching for causal mutations responsible of wool shedding is currently running. The availability of high throughput genomic data is expected in the coming years to provide a better understanding of the genetic determinism of fleece characteristics.