Histomorphometry of Deldoid Muscle (Musculus Deltoideus) in the Hybrids of Mouflon (Ovis Ammon Musimon Pal.) and Domestic Sheep

The aim of this study was to establish production performances upon slaughter in the hybrids obtained by crossbreeding of mouflon (Ovis ammon musimon Pal.) and domestic sheep. The morphological and histomorphometric study was carried out on fragments of deltoid muscles (Musculus deltoideus) sampled from seven MM x FT hybrids and seven MT x FM hybrids, respectively. Muscle fragments were fixed in 10% formalin solution and histological preparations were stained through Mallory trichromic method. Histomorphometric analysis reveals that MM x FT hybrids have thicker muscular fibbers and smaller amounts of inter-fibrillar connective tissue than MT x FM hybrids (p<0.001). Also, the mean area of muscular fascicles per microscopic field was larger in the MM x FT hybrids than in MT x FM hybrids (p>0.05). Results of our study show that using mouflon (Ovis ammon musimon Pal.) and local Tigaie sheep in the development of new genotypes could be a good solution for both the conservation of these threatened species and for production of high quality mutton.