Ultra-High-Sulphur Proteins in the Hairs of the Artiodactyla

Abstract

Wool follicles are potentially able to synthesize specific high.sulphur proteins in which about 30% of the amino acid residues are half-cystine (Gillespie and Reis 1966). The amount of these proteins incorporated into the fibre is related to the availability of sulphur-containing amino acids for metabolism in the sheep. There is a linear relation between the sulphur content of a wool fibre and its content of these proteins (Broad, Gillespie, and Reis 1970).