Cellular characteristics of wool follicles and fibres in finewool and strongwool Merinos [sheep]
1992
Hocking Edwards, J.E. | Hynd, P.I. (Waite Agricultural Research Inst., Glen Osmond (Australia). Dept. of Animal Sciences)
In a comparison of 6 strongwool and 6 finewool Merinos, the former produced 2.4 times more wool per unit area of skin and 3.5 times the volume of fibre per follicle, when both groups were maintained under similar environmental conditions. The finewool Merinos had a higher follicle density, but a lower average volume of germinative tissue in the follicle bulb and skin. In a stepwise linear regression, wool production per unit area was best predicted by the volume of germinative tissue in the bulb, together with follicle density. It was concluded that genotype determines the volume of potentially mitotically active tissue in the skin, but the dynamic mechanism of fibre production is controlled by a number of characteristics.
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