China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2023, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (2): 638-646.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2023.02.021

• Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

An Overview of Research on Skin Hair Follicle Development and Regulatory Mechanism in Sheep During the Fetal Period

QIN Zhiyun, JIANG Huaizhi   

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China
  • Received:2022-07-12 Online:2023-02-05 Published:2023-02-06

Abstract: China has a long history of goat breeding and rich variety resources,which play an important role in the national economy.Wool can be divided into homogeneous fleece and heterogeneous fleece according to fiber type.The characteristic of homogeneous fleece is that the coat is composed of the same type of wool fibers,and its characteristics are that the fiber diameter,length,curl,and other appearance characteristics of wool are basically the same.The characteristic of heterogeneous fleece is that there are different types of wool fibers in the coat,such as down fleeces,medullary fleeces,and non-curly and oligo-curly fleeces.The chemical,physical and mechanical properties of wool fibers of heterogeneous fleece are different from those of homogeneous fleece. Hair follicle is an important organ with periodic development and lifelong regeneration,which controls the development and natural shedding of the hair.The hair follicles can be divided into primary follicles and secondary follicles according to their formation time and structure.The primary follicles develop subsequently developed coarse hairs,while secondary hair follicles produce unmyelinated villi.Being relatively thicker,longer,and less curved,the medullated wool is mainly used to process coarse textiles,blankets,carpets,and felt products.In contrast,non-medullated wool is an excellent raw material for the wool spinning industry because it is generally not more than 40 μm in diameter and has much curvature.Hair follicle development is affected by different genes and signaling pathways,such as Wnt signaling pathway,bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway,fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling pathway,sonic hedgehog(SHH) signaling pathway,Notch signaling pathway,keratin family genes, BMPs family genes,homologous box genes (Hox),etc.The author reviewes the literature on the development and regulation of hair follicles in the fetal skin of sheep,intending to provide a reference for the selection and breeding of sheep whose main breeding objectives are to improve coat yield and coat quality.

Key words: sheep and goats; fetal stag; hair follicle development; regulatory mechanism

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