A Morphological and Histochemical Study of the Bacterial Degradation of Wool Fibres in Vivo

Abstract

It has been previously shown that a microorganism, isolated from the contents of dermal cysts artificially produced in a Merino sheep, was capable of degrading wool fibres in vitro. This paper considers the degradation of wool fibres in vivo and describes structural changes and distribution of sulphydryl groups demonstrated by histochemical technique. The fibres are arranged in order of degree of degradation which is characterized by two mechanisms; reduction of ~S~S~ cross-linkages and proteolysis. The degradation proceeds to disintegration of macrofibrils.