Editorial: [Animal Fibers]

Seyed Abbas Rafat^1*GUSTAVO AUGUSTO GUTIERREZ REYNOSO²

• ¹animal Science, Animal breeding and Genetics, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
• ²National Agrarian University, lima, Peru

Editorial: [Animal Fibers]Seyed Abbas Rafat, GUSTAVO AUGUSTO GUTIERREZ REYNOSOThe topic of animal fibers aimed to examine the recent research advances on thecharacterization and production of wool, cashmere, mohair, camel, alpaca, angora,cashgora and similar animal fibers. Nowadays, there are many challenges that theproduction of animal fiber face like price volatility, animal welfare, being social andenvironmentally friendly. One of the challenges of sheep production industry, forexample, is that the farmer is interested in producing more lamb meat. In otherwords, they are interested that nutrients in the sheep body are used to produce meatinstead of wool. Furthermore, sheep farmers like breeds that do not require shearing.Animal science researchers can find suitable solutions to these new challenges bytools of management, animal nutrition, physiology and genetics.Despite the little contribution of animal fibers to Global textile materials (About1.5%), they share common features like being natural, biodegradable, breathable,soft and non-inflammable. Therefore, animal fibers used in clothing can benefit thehealth of the population and the environment.The importance of raising animals for fiber production is further highlighted by thefact that the livelihoods of some farmers in extensive animal production systemsdepend on selling animal fibers. In terms of geography and vegetation, there areregions in the world where livelihoods depend solely on the breeding of fibreproducing animals, such as those where cashmere, alpaca wool, camel wool andcashgora are produced.The aim of this topic was to draw the attention of researchers to the recentcontributions to the fields of physiology, breeding, genetics and management aimedat improving the production and quality of animal fibers.Four articles were reviewed and accepted to be published on the topic of animalfibers. The article written by Zhang et al. is a foundational paper on follicular growth,investigating the relationship between exosomes and hair follicle development. Thispaves the way for future applied research in animal husbandry. Maximizing theutilization of nutrients is essential for producing protein-based products, and similarstudies could explore the role of circulating exosomes in animal fibre synthesis. Thehair follicle can be considered a small factory and a model for physiologicalresearch. Zhang also showed that microRNA can be regulated by circulatingexosomes in different species. Therefore, it is evident that the hair follicle is a tissueof interest for research in other branches of biology and that a new approach totreating skin baldness has been presented.Of the two articles on this research topic, , Melo-Rojas et al. dealt with moleculargenetics and Pinares et al. with the phenotypic traits of alpaca fiber. Generally, lessresearch has been conducted on alpacas than on sheep, and more research is neededto identify all aspects of raising alpacas for fiber production. Melo-Rojas's paperaimed to explore the association between polymorphisms in SNPs related to thetyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1), dopachrome tautomerase (DCT) and RASrelated protein 38 (RAB38) genes and coat color in South American camelids.Understanding the mechanism of color inheritance in fiber-producing animals isimportant from both an animal breeding and an end-use perspective in the textileindustry. Although a white color is preferred in most fiber-producing animals(Esfandyari et al., 2012; Rafat, 2022), the presence of natural pigmentation and theabsence of the need for chemical dyeing are considered advantages in alpacas.Pinares´ paper examined the environmental effects on alpaca fiber quality and howalpaca farmers consider fiber quality characteristics in addition to color.Sacchero et al. investigated the impact of environmental factors on the incomegenerated from Angora goat farming in an extensive system. In the selectivebreeding of Angora goats, we are dealing with the phenomenon of multiple traitselection. Knowing the relationship between different mohair traits enables us todetermine the appropriate economic weighting for the selection index.We expected to receive more papers for this research topic, but it seems that thevolume of research on fiber-producing animals has decreased relatively. Inconclusion, the higher price of meat compared to animal fibers seems to haveaffected the research quantity on animal fibers. However, for some species, such asthe alpaca, there is still a need for animal scientists to work on various aspects of thisvaluable animal in terms of animal fiber. There are some geographical areas wherelivestock farmers are interested in producing animal fiber, such as the OshMountains in Kyrgyzstan, or Lighvan in Tabriz(figure 1). In these areas, animalscience research needs to focus on producing dual-purpose breeds, where fiber traitsare maintained and improved in addition to reproductive traits and lamb or milk.Figure 1: Milk-wool sheep production in semi-extensive system, Qizil breed,Lighvan, Tabriz, East Azerbaijan.References:Esfandyari H, Aslaminejad AA and Rafat SA 2012. Genetic and non-genetic factorsinfluencing fibre quality of Arkharmerino × Ghezel and Arkharmerino × Moghanicrossbreeds of sheep in third generation.Rafat SA 2022. Molecular genetics of wool fibre structure in sheep. CABI Reviews.