Search

Although sheep with a relatively high fleece weight have reduced fat deposition and a lower reproductive rate, research has failed to identify any specific metabolic demand that growing a fleece places on the physiology of the sheep. This paper reports two experiments in which the effect of fleece weight was examined in ewes infused intravenously with amino acids. The first experiment was carried out when the ewes were 107 days pregnant, and the second 2 years later in non-pregnant ewes from the same flock. The ewes were derived initially from groups that differed in staple strength, but there was no effect of staple strength group on the characteristics measured in either experiment. In Expt 2, ewes were also infused with a bolus of l-[ring-d5] phenylalanine, and the enrichment in plasma determined by GC/mass spectrometry over the next 24 h. In both experiments, fasting plasma insulin concentrations were lower (P < 0.05) in ewes with a high fleece weight, and this difference continued during infusion in Expt 2 (P < 0.05). In Expt 1, infusion of ewes with amino acids resulted in higher (P < 0.05) plasma concentrations of ?-amino nitrogen (indicating amino acids) in the ewes with a higher fleece weight, and in Expt 2, ewes with a high fleece weight had a 19% higher rate of appearance of endogenous phenylalanine (P < 0.05). We conclude that sheep with high wool growth rates have higher whole-body protein turnover rate, which may be achieved in part by lower insulin concentrations. Lower insulin in turn provides a mechanism through which wool growth rate may influence energy availability to other tissues.

In ovulo embryo rescue techniques have been used to recover new hybrids from seedless × seedless grape crosses. This study was conducted to increase efficiency by investigating effects of genotype, medium, and ovule removal age on ovule elongation, embryo recovery, growth, and plantlet formation. Ovules from self-pollinated berries of seedless varieties Sunmuscat, Merbein Seedless, and Marroo Seedless were cultured at 30, 43, 60, and 70 days after flowering (DAF) in a range of media, some of which were supplemented with gibberellic acid (GA3) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). The effect of activated charcoal (AC) in media on rescued embryos was also investigated. Ovules exhibited continuous growth in vivo and in vitro. The most vigorous growth was observed for ovules cultured at 30 and 43 DAF, but more embryos were recovered from ovules cultured at 60 and 70 DAF. Ovule growth and embryo production in vitro were improved in Bouquet and Davis (BD) and Nitsch and Nitsch (NN) media. Supplementation with GA3 increased embryo recovery rates. Highest embryo recovery rates were 18.1%, 9.6%, and 12.2% for Sunmuscat, Merbein Seedless, and Marroo Seedless, respectively, when ovules were excised and cultured at 60 or 70 DAF in either BD or NN media. In vitro embryo survival and plantlet formation were higher for torpedo-shaped embryos, and improved greatly in 6-benzyladenine (BA)-supplemented woody plant (WP) medium containing 0.3% AC. Embryo recovery was improved by excising and culturing ovules at 60 DAF in BD or NN media and then by transferring embryos to WP medium supplemented with BA and AC.

The effects of initial liveweight, liveweight change, and composition of the diet on wool growth and staple strength in weaner sheep were investigated. Weaner wethers (64) were allocated to treatments in a factorial design (23). The factors were initial liveweight (heavy, 33 kg; light, 25 kg), liveweight change (fed at maintenance for 56 days, or 28 days at 0 ·6×maintenance then 28 days at 1·6×maintenance), and diet (lupin seed based diet or canola meal based diet). The heavier weaners grew approximately 1·9 g/day more wool than the light sheep during the experimental period and this resulted in a higher clean fleece weight (1·8 v. 1·4 kg), staple strength (37 v. 27·4 N/ktex), and fibre diameter (18·0 v. 17·4 µm). Substituting canola meal for lupin seed increased wool growth during the experiment and clean wool yield, but did not affect clean fleece weight or staple strength. The weaners fed to lose and then gain weight grew wool with a lower staple strength than the weaners fed to maintain weight through the experiment (28·6 v. 35·8 N/ktex), but there were no differences in any of the other fleece characteristics. The ratio of wool growth to dry matter intake (DMI) was higher in the sheep fed canola meal than those fed lupins (by approximately 1·5 g/kg DMI) and higher in weaners losing weight than those fed to maintain weight (by approximately 4·5 g/kg DMI). From a practical perspective, these results indicate that initial liveweight and liveweight change both influence staple strength and wool growth and need to be included in any management strategy to improve wool quality of young sheep. fibre diameter, Merino, wool quality, protein, canola meal, lupin seed.