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

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.

Morphological body measurements, body indices, and their genetic background for several Chinese goat breeds.

This field work was conducted to describe the body measurements and the body indices along with the correlations among them for 513 goats organized into the following breeds: Saanen milk goat (B1), Black Boer x Dazu black goat (B2), Hechuan white goat (B3), Dazu black goat (B4), Inner Mongolia cashmere goat (B5), B4 x B5 cross (B6), and B6x B6 cross (B7) residents of different Chinese regions but raised in Dazu Black farm, Beibei, Southwest China. Data were collected on adult males and females of similar age (36.50 ± 0.75 months). Results showed that the B4, B2, B6, and B7 were heavier than other breeds with mean live body weight of 60.80, 59.00, 62.75, and 63.08 kg, respectively, while that of B3, B1, and B5 were 57.00, 43.42, and 57.15 kg. Meanwhile, B1, B2, B5, B6, and B7 had longer bodies than other breeds, recording 77.00, 73.83, 72.50, 65.17, and 67.17 cm, respectively. As for wither height, B1, B2, B4, B5, and B6 recorded 75.33, 68.33, 68.33, 66.67, and 66.17 cm, respectively. These differences were significant (P < 0.05). The results revealed variable correlation coefficients among body measurements. Most body indices showed variation in estimated correlations between breed groups (P < 0.05). These findings revealed the presence of a wide range of differences for body measurements and the body indices among studied breeds. Such diversity in the body conformation is crucial to implement reliable selection strategies for breeding goats, Also, these findings can help to commence future step for appraisal of quantitative traits and initiate genome analysis.

Evaluation of morphological traits and physiological variables of several Chinese goat breeds and their crosses.

The current study was undertaken to evaluate some morphological traits of the goat breeds raised in Southwest China. The field experimentation and data collection were from 434 animals presenting seven breeds of the Dazu black goat (DBG; n = 203), Saanen milk goat (SMG; n = 50), Black Boer × Dazu black goat (BXC; n = 28), Hechuan white goat (HWG; n = 49), Inner Mongolia Cashmere goat (IMCG; n = 25), IMCG × DBG (F1; n = 57) and F1 × F1 (F2; n = 22). All studied animals were adult and selected to be at the same age (36.50 ± 0.75 months). After editing, more than 20 morphological and production traits like body condition score (BCS), testicle measurements, coat colour, fibre traits, skin colour, horn colour, horn shape, horn orientation, wattles, front hair, beard, ear shape, ear size, rump angle, hind leg angulation and physiological variables were analysed. BXC and DBG had dark coat colour, whilst SMG, HWG and IMCG had light colour, whilst F1 and F2 ranged from light to dark coat colour. Concerning BCS, the breeds BXC and DBG were characterized as fat goats, whilst SMG, HWG, F1 and F2 were average, whilst IMCG was thin. The maximum values for testis measurements were recorded for BXC, SMG and DBG. For fibre traits, IMCG, F1 and F2 were the most superior. BXC and DBG males have good fertility parameters. The highest values for rectal temperature, skin temperature and breath rate were recorded for SMG. These findings revealed the presence of a wide range of morphological differences among studied goat breeds. Such diversity in the performance of goat breeds raised in Southwest China is crucial to implement reliable selection strategies for breeding goats in this area.

Comparative analysis of IGFBP-3 gene sequence in Egyptian sheep, cattle, and buffalo.

OBJECTIVE: A total of 205 animals from four Egyptian livestock species; cattle (n = 18), buffaloes (n = 12), sheep (n = 150) and goats (n = 25) were used in this study to detect polymorphism and perform comparative analysis for IGFBP-3 gene using DNA sequencing and (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS: The amplified fragments were found to be of length 654 bp in sheep, 651 bp in cattle and 655 bp in buffalo. For Falahy goats, PCR was performed to amplify a 316 bp fragment from exon 2 of the IGFBP-3 gene. The digestion of 654 bp with HaeIII restriction enzyme yielded a single restriction pattern for goats, while for cattle, 3 genotypes were identified; (AA), (AB), and (BB). Moreover, for buffalo one genotype (AA) only was found with HaeIII and TaqI restriction enzymes, separately. Also, the digestion profile for goats with HaeIII revealed one pattern only. Nucleotide sequencing of the amplified fragments of IGFBP-3 gene in sheep, cattle, buffalo, and goat was submitted to the NCBI GenBank (Accession no. MG738671.1, MG738673.1, MG738674.1, and MG738672.1, respectively). The nucleotide sequencing analysis indicated similarity percentages in IGFBP-3 gene fragments of 88.54, 89.63 and 95.06% between "sheep and cattle", "sheep and buffalo", and "cattle and buffalo", respectively.