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Experiments on Wool from Copper-Deficient Sheep

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Abstract

WOOL from merino sheep suffering from severe deficiency of copper is very weak, has abnormal dyeing properties, and is difficult to process1,2. These characteristics are not easy to explain in terms of what is known about the structure and chemistry of the fibres. Although deficiency of copper delays the rate of keratinization in the wool follicle1, copper-deficient fibres appear to have the same structure as normal fibres and the differences between them revealed so far by chemical analysis (for example, differences in sulphur, cystine, cysteine, and N-terminal-residue concentrations1,3,4) do not offer a complete explanation for the large physical differences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Chemical Research Laboratory, South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria

    R. W. BURLEY & F. W. A. HORDEN

Authors
  1. R. W. BURLEY
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  2. F. W. A. HORDEN
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BURLEY, R., HORDEN, F. Experiments on Wool from Copper-Deficient Sheep. Nature 184, 1725–1726 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1841725a0

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