Li, SZhou, HuitongGong, HZhao, FWang, JLiu, XLuo, YHickford, Jonathan2017-10-242017-01-1120172017-01-05Li et al. (2017). Identification of the ovine keratin-associated protein 22-1 (KAP22-1) gene and its effect on wool traits. Genes, 8(1), 27. doi:10.3390/genes80100272073-4425ER8GQ (isidoc)28085060 (pubmed)https://hdl.handle.net/10182/8696Keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) are structural components of wool and hair fibers. To date, eight high glycine/tyrosine KAP (HGT-KAP) families have been identified in humans, but only three have been identified in sheep. In this study, the putative ovine homolog of the human KAP22-1 gene (KRTAP22-1) was amplified using primers designed based on a human KRTAP22-1 sequence. Polymerase chain reaction-single stranded conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was used to screen for variation in KRTAP22-1 in 390 Merino × Southdown-cross lambs and 75 New Zealand (NZ) Romney sheep. Three PCR-SSCP banding patterns were detected and DNA sequencing revealed that the banding patterns represented three different nucleotide sequences (A-C). Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in these sequences. Variant B was most common with a frequency of 81.3% in NZ Romney sheep, while in the Merino × Southdown-cross lambs, A was more common with a frequency of 51.8%. The presence of B was found to be associated with increased wool yield and decreased mean fiber curvature (MFC). Sheep of genotype BB or AB had a higher wool yield than those of genotype AA. These results suggest that ovine KRTAP22-1 variation may be useful when developing breeding programs based on increasing wool yield, or decreasing wool curvature.9 pagesElectronicen© 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).keratin-associated protein KAP22-1variationmean fiber curvature (MFC)wool yieldsheepJournal Article10.3390/genes8010027ANZSRC::070201 Animal BreedingANZSRC::0604 GeneticsANZSRC::060408 GenomicsANZSRC::060412 Quantitative Genetics (incl. Disease and Trait Mapping Genetics)2073-4425ANZSRC::3105 Geneticshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Attribution