Assessment of hair and cashmere properties and their genetic background of several goat breeds in Southwest China

Ahmed A Saleh; Amr M A Rashad; Nada N A M Hassanine; Mahmoud A Sharaby; Yongju Zhao

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-14441-1

Assessment of hair and cashmere properties and their genetic background of several goat breeds in Southwest China

Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 1;12(1):11135. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14441-1.

Authors

Ahmed A Saleh¹, Amr M A Rashad², Nada N A M Hassanine³, Mahmoud A Sharaby², Yongju Zhao³

Affiliations

¹ Animal and Fish Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture (Alshatby), Alexandria University, Alexandria City, 11865, Egypt. Elemlak1339@gmail.com.
² Animal and Fish Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture (Alshatby), Alexandria University, Alexandria City, 11865, Egypt.
³ College of Animal Science and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Forage and Herbivore, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Herbivores Resource Protection and Utilization, Chongqing, 400715, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the properties and quality characteristics of hair and cashmere fibres of three goat breeds raised in Southwest China, namely; Dazu black goat (DBG, n = 203; ♂99, ♀104), Inner Mongolia cashmere goat (IMCG, n = 65; 21♂, 44♀) and their first cross (F₁, n = 79; 39♂, 40♀). Totals of 5219, 2130 and 2981 fibre samples, from the three breeds respectively, were taken prior to shearing at 32.5 ± 01.25 months of age from four body sites; shoulder, side-portion, abdomen and leg. Breed effect was significant (P < 0.01) for most hair and cashmere properties. IMCG and F₁ hair lengths were longer (P < 0.001) with less variable lengths than DBG. Shoulder hair diameters of the three breeds were not different (P > 0.05) but biggest of the side-portion and abdomen sites of DBG were bigger (P > 0.01), however, the biggest (P < 0.001) hair diameter was recorded for the leg site of F₁ and the smallest (P > 0.01) for IMCG. IMCG recorded the longest value for cashmere lengths followed by DBG, while F₁ recorded the lowest (P = 0.001), whilst F₁ recorded the biggest (P = 0.001) diameter whereas no differences existed between parents' breeds. The cortical cell lengths of IMCG and DBG were 94.57 and 86.85 μm without significant difference detected between breeds. Differences between hair length and diameter for body sites of the studied goat breeds were significant (P < 0.01) but between whiteness, cashmere diameter and diameter of cortical cells were not. Sex had no significant effect on all hair/cashmere properties. Quality characteristics of cashmere fibres from IMCG and F₁ were better (P < 0.001) than from DBG. Leg hair diameter, curl recovery rate and cashmere diameter were superior in the crossbred F₁ compared to pure breed parents, and DBG was superior to IMCG for fibre elasticity and intensity traits. FGF-5 gene was detected as a candidate gene for hair and cashmere traits in IMCG breed. Whilst, KIT gene was found to be associated with coat colour in the studied breeds. Extra investigations to examine more cashmere goat breeds and crosses are needed to discover genetic variability in cashmere production locally and worldwide.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
China
Dietary Fiber
Genetic Background*
Goats* / genetics
Hair
Oncogenes

Substances

Dietary Fiber