title: Candidate genes for the development of hair follicles in Hu sheep.
abstract: The aim of this study was to detect candidate genes for the development of hair follicles in the Hu sheep breed. Seven genes have been detected in large, medium, and small wave follicles of Hu sheep using gene chip technology. The histological features of the follicles of newborn Hu-lambs were combined with fluorescence quantitative PCR technology to detect the correlation between the expression of the seven genes and hair follicle development. Among the genes studied, matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2), bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP7), and sideroflexin 1 (SFXN1) showed a significantly different pattern of expression in large, medium, and small wave follicles (P < 0.05). The expression of MMP2 had a significant positive correlation with secondary follicles in large waves (P < 0.05), while the expression of BMP7 had a significant correlation with primary follicle diameter in small wave follicles, and a highly significant positive correlation with the number of secondary follicles in the small waves (P < 0.01). The expression of SFXN1 was significantly and positively correlated with the diameters of small wave primary follicles; it also showed a highly significant positive correlation with secondary follicle diameters. Although other genes are associated with hair follicles, their expression in large, medium, and small wave follicles was not significant. We propose that BMP7, MMP2, and SFXN1 genes could be important candidate genes for use in breeding Hu lambs with early coat development.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: X Y
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China dkxmsunwei@163.com.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Khartoum Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Musa
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Q Z
authors.initials: QZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine Bureau of Suzhou City Suzhou, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000378:metabolism*; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 / Q000235:genetics; D020783:Matrix Metalloproteinase 7 / Q000235:genetics; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D020783:Matrix Metalloproteinase 7; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2