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An association between the concentration of copper in whole blood and haemoglobin type in sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

Gerald Wiener
Affiliation:
ARC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
J. G. Hall
Affiliation:
ARC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
Susan Hayter
Affiliation:
ARC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
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Summary

In a genetically diverse flock of about 320 sheep a significant association has been found between the concentration of copper in whole blood and the haemoglobin type.

Sheep were bled on four occasions over a period of 1 year, with the flock mean concentration of copper varying between 53 and 96 fig per 100 ml whole blood. The copper concentrations in whole blood from sheep of haemoglobin type B exceeded those from sheep of type A by 9, 16, 15 and 15 fig per 100 ml on the four occasions respectively. The copper concentrations from sheep of type AB were 8, 11, 7 and 7 μg higher than those from type A.

Differences in the frequency of the three haemoglobin phenotypes accounted for part of the breed variation in copper concentration previously observed in the same flock, but even when that effect was allowed for, highly significant breed variation remained. When plasma instead of whole blood was examined in two other flocks from which breed variation in plasma copper concentration had been reported no association was found between the plasma copper concentration and haemoglobin type.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1973

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References

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