02308naa a2200289 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902400380006010000200009824500730011826000090019150005120020052010180071265000130173065000090174365000100175265000100176265300240177265300120179665300220180865300170183065300180184770000170186570000110188270000150189377301100190810519872020-05-13       2015    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d7 a10.1016/j.livsci.2014.12.0182DOI1 aDE BARBIERI, I.  aAssociation of wool growth with gut metabolism and anatomy in sheep.  c2015  aArticle history: Received 28March 2014; Received in revised form 10December2014; Accepted 23 December 2014. Acknowledgments: The authors thank Evelyn Osborne, Jose Velazco, Alistair Donaldson, Carolina Silveira, Mark Barnett, Reg Woodgate, Gary Cluley, Leanne Lisle, Jennie Hegarty, Koen Luijben, Fay Haynes, Miranda Pen, Neil Baillie, Gary Taylor, Sue Mortimer and Graeme Bremner for their technical support. Ignacio De Barbieri was supported by National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA Uruguay).  aThe hypothesis tested by this study was that sheep with divergent estimated breeding values (EBV) for fleece weight differ in gut metabolism and anatomy; regardless of the level of intake. Adult Merino wethers with contrasting EBVs for fleece weight were fed at two levels of intake in two 7-week periods in a crossover design, where wool growth, gut metabolism and anatomy of the sheep were evaluated. Regardless of the level of intake, wool genotype affected wool growth (P<0.05); however, rumen metabolism and gut anatomy did not differ between wool genotypes (P>0.05). Increases in the level of intake increased the supply of nutrients to the animal and the measured end-products of the process (wool production, live weight, methane) independent of wool genotype. The results obtained in this study indicate that differences in gut fermentation and anatomy are not a major cause of differences in wool production among sheep of different estimated genetic merit for fleece weight when fed restricted intakes.  aANATOMIA  aLANA  aOVEJA  aRUMEN  aCOMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY  aMETHANE  aMICROBIAL PROTEIN  aRUMEN VOLUME  aWOOL GENOTYPE1 aHEGARY, R.S.1 aLI, L.1 aODDY, V.H.  tLivestock Science, Volume 173, March 2015, Pages 38-47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2014.12.018