BACKGROUND: Genetic improvement of wool and growth traits is a major goal in the sheep industry, but their underlying genetic architecture remains elusive. To improve our understanding of these mechanisms, we conducted a weighted single-step genome-wide association study (WssGWAS) and then integrated the results with large-scale transcriptome data for five wool traits and one growth trait in Merino sheep: mean fibre diameter (MFD), coefficient of variation of the fibre diameter (CVFD), crimp number (CN), mean staple length (MSL), greasy fleece weight (GFW), and live weight (LW).
RESULTS: Our dataset comprised 7135 individuals with phenotype data, among which 1217 had high-density (HD) genotype data (n = 372,534). The genotypes of 707 of these animals were imputed from the Illumina Ovine single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 54 BeadChip to the HD Array. The heritability of these traits ranged from 0.05 (CVFD) to 0.36 (MFD), and between-trait genetic correlations ranged from - 0.44 (CN vs. LW) to 0.77 (GFW vs. LW). By integrating the GWAS signals with RNA-seq data from 500 samples (representing 87 tissue types from 16 animals), we detected tissues that were relevant to each of the six traits, e.g. liver, muscle and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract were the most relevant tissues for LW, and leukocytes and macrophages were the most relevant cells for CN. For the six traits, 54 quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified covering 81 candidate genes on 21 ovine autosomes. Multiple candidate genes showed strong tissue-specific expression, e.g. BNC1 (associated with MFD) and CHRNB1 (LW) were specifically expressed in skin and muscle, respectively. By conducting phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) in humans, we found that orthologues of several of these candidate genes were significantly (FDR < 0.05) associated with similar traits in humans, e.g. BNC1 was significantly associated with MFD in sheep and with hair colour in humans, and CHRNB1 was significantly associated with LW in sheep and with body mass index in humans.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide novel insights into the biological and genetic mechanisms underlying wool and growth traits, and thus will contribute to the genetic improvement and gene mapping of complex traits in sheep.

This study aimed to decrease chemical costs and increase productivity and environmental performance by applying various practices for chemical minimization and substitution in an integrated textile mill producing woolen textile fabric. Detailed on-site process investigations and data collection studies were carried out in the mill. Process-based specific auxiliary chemical and dyestuff consumptions were calculated. Process and composite wastewater samples were collected at different periods and analyzed. The chemical loads of wastewaters were also calculated. The specific dyestuff and auxiliary chemical consumptions of the mill were compared with the data of a similar textile mill in the literature and the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), Textile Best Available Techniques Reference (BREF) document. Thus, the chemical saving potential of the mill was evaluated. A detailed chemical inventory study was also carried out in the mill. The material safety data sheets (MSDSs) of 371 chemicals were examined in terms of biodegradation ratio, toxicity, and micropollutant content. As a result, 23 chemicals were proposed to be replaced with environmentally friendly substitutes. A total of 10 minimization and substitution practices were identified for the mill according to the investigation and analysis results. After the implementation of the suggested practices, reductions of 15-32 and 13-37% are estimated to be achieved in total chemical consumption and chemical oxygen demand (COD) load of wastewater, respectively. The potential payback periods of the suggested practices were calculated to range between 4 and 36 months. The employed methodology and the findings of this study may be useful for similar textile mills, stakeholders, and regulators. This study may also provide a road map to the textile industry for their sustainable and green production applications.

Management of camelids in the coastal valleys of the Andes has generated much debate in recent years. Zooarchaeological and isotopic studies have demonstrated that in the coastal valleys of northern and southern Peru there were locally maintained camelid herds. Because of the hyperarid conditions of the northern coast of Chile, this region has been assumed to be unsuitable for the raising of camelids. In this study we report stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of camelid bone collagen and textiles made from camelid fiber from Late Intermediate Period (LIP) and Late Horizon (LH) occupations in northern Chilean river valleys. The camelid bone collagen isotopic compositions are consistent with these animals originating in the highlands, although there is a significant difference in the camelids dating to the LIP and LH, possibly because of changes made to distribution and exchange networks by the Inca in the LH. There were no differences between the isotopic compositions of the camelid fibers sampled from textiles in the LIP and LH, suggesting that either the production of camelid fiber was unchanged by the Inca or the changes that were made do not present visible isotopic evidence. Several camelid fiber samples from both the LIP and LH present very high δ13C and δ15N values, comparable to human hair samples from one site (Huancarane) in the Camarones Valley. These data suggest that people in the northern valleys of Chile may have kept small numbers of animals specifically for fiber production. Overall, however, the vast majority of the textile samples have isotopic compositions that are consistent with an origin in the highlands. These data suggest that the hyperarid coastal river valleys of northern Chile did not support substantial camelid herds as has been interpreted for northern Peru.

Natural tannins from various plants have been used throughout human history in textile dyeing, often as mordant dyes. The ageing behavior of these dyes is a challenge in conservation science, requiring a thorough knowledge of the textile-mordant-dye system. In this work, we analyzed reference wool yarns dyed with natural tannins from oak gallnuts, walnut (Juglans regia), and catechu (Acacia catechu), after artificial ageing. To gain insights on the composition of the dyestuffs and on how they aged, an analytical procedure based on extraction with Na2EDTA/DMF (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid/dimethylformamide) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis using high-resolution mass spectrometry detection was used. Since conventional reversed-phase (RP) columns usually show poor retention efficiency of highly polar compounds such as tannins, an RP-amide embedded polar group stationary phase was used to achieve optimal retention of the most polar compounds. Tannins from oak gallnuts showed little degradation after ageing, while a significant increase in the content of hydroxybenzoic acids was observed for tannins from walnut and catechu. Finally, the analytical procedure was applied to characterize the tannin dyes in historical tapestries from the 15th to 16th century, and the results were discussed in comparison with the reference yarns.

Computer color-matching (CCM) and the levelness of poly(ethylene glycol)-based reverse-micellar dyed wool fabrics in octane and nonane were investigated and compared with a conventional water-based dyeing system. Reflectance curves and calibration curves exhibited no chromatic change and maintained high linearity in both dyeing systems. The linearity of water-dyed calibration curves was slightly higher than that of the reverse-micellar dyed curves. The color yield, in term of K/Ssum values, of solvent-dyed samples was found to be generally higher than that of water-based dyed samples at various calibrated dye concentrations. The concentrations predicted by CCM were close to the theoretical concentrations for both dyeing methods. This indicates that octane- and nonane-assisted reverse-micellar dyeing of wool is able to generate color recipes comparable to the conventional water-based dyeing system. The solvent-dyed samples, measured by the relative unlevelness indices (RUI), exhibit good-to-excellent levelness, which is highly comparable with the water-dyed samples.