Effects of nutrition on wool follicle cell kinetics in sheep differing in efficiency of wool production

Abstract

Wide phenotypic variation in fibre output per follicle was generated by selecting sheep (five South Australian strongwool Merinos, one finewool Merino and one Corriedale) on this basis, and by offering these sheep a low-protein diet for 9 weeks, followed by a high-protein diet for a further 8 weeks. Clean wool production was measured over the final 3 weeks of each period, while fibre diameter, the rate of length growth of fibres and a number of follicle characters were measured over the last 7 days of each period. The rate of division of follicle bulb cells and the total volume of the germinative region of the follicle was estimated by image-analysis of bulb sections in skin biopsy samples.With the change from the low-protein diet to the high-protein diet, the rate of clean fleece production was increased by 33% (P<0.002), reflecting an increase in fibre diameter (8%) and rate of length growth of fibres (26%); the volume of the germinative region of the average bulb increased 30% (P<0.012) and the rate of bulb cell division by 35% (P<0.004); cortical cell volume also did not change (923 8m3 v. 965 8m3; the average proportion of fibre cross-sectional area occupied by paracortical cells increased from 0.2 1 to 0.35 ( P < 0.01 0); the proportion of dividing cells entering the fibre cortex ranged from 0.25 to 0.42 (mean, 0.31) between sheep on the low-protein diet, and from 0.22 to 0.39 (mean, 0.32) when the animals were fed the high-protein ration; the effect of diet on cell distribution to fibre and inner root sheath was not significant (P<0.601).Phenotypic differences in fibre output were primarily related to differences in the rate of bulb cell division (r= 0.896, P < 0.001), but inclusion of a term for the proportion of bulb cells entering the fibre cortex, removed an additional, significant proportion of the variance. Cortical cell volume, on the other hand, was poorly related to fibre output.