Seasonal Variability in Transcript Expression of Type I and Type II Keratins in Wool Follicles of Lustrous Fleece-Producing Magra Sheep. Issue 1 (31st December 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kumar, Rajiv; Meena, Amar S; Chopra, Ashish; Kumar, Ajay; Sharma, Ramesh C; Kumar, Arun
• Is Part Of: Journal of natural fibers. Volume 20:Issue 1(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-12-31
• Subjects: Magra sheep -- wool -- luster -- seasonal variation -- real-time PCR -- K40 gene; 羊 -- 羊毛 -- 光泽 -- 季节变化 -- 实时 -- 基因; Textile research -- Periodicals; Textile research; Periodicals; 677.005
• DOI: 10.1080/15440478.2023.2174631
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1544-0478

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Magra sheep reared around the Bikaner area of Rajasthan, India is famous for producing lustrous fleece as compared to other wool-producing native sheep breeds. Three clips of Magra wool, namely, February, July, and October months of the year are showing variations in luster and gross appearance. Present work has been conducted to unravel seasonal variations, in transcript expression patterns in major type I and type II keratin genes, that occur in wool follicles of lustrous wool-producing Magra sheep. Wool samples randomly collected were graded in high and low luster by Gloss 60° values. Wool follicles of the sheep with low (gloss 60° values; < 2.5) and high (gloss 60° values; > 2.5) luster were used for the analysis of type I and type II keratin transcripts. The results of Quantitative PCR had shown up-regulated expression of keratin genes in high-lustrous sheep as compared to low-lustrous sheep. K32, K40, and K82 transcript expression differed significantly ( P ≤ .05) between high- and low-lustrous sheep. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the K40 and K82 genes revealed five and four non-synonymous mutations, respectively. From the present study, it can be speculated that the higher amount of keratin protein may play a crucial role in determining the luster property of the wool.