Abstract
Young's modulus (E) is a measure for stiffness of a material and a higher E means a higher stiffness. The respective polymorphism of the feather corneous beta-protein gene causes the replacement of glycine by cysteine. We looked for possible effects of the three FCBP genotypes on E in the 10th primaries of racing pigeons. However, we did not find a statistically significant difference of E between the genotypes, even within the sexes and/or within different locations under our test conditions. Our findings do not preclude the possibility that under other conditions (temperature, moisture) an influence of the glycine/cysteine polymorphism on E may exist. Compared to the more proximal locations of the rachis (base and middle) we observed lower values for E in the distal region (tip). The 10th primary constitutes the leading edge of the pigeon wing and this special function may require higher stiffness in the proximal parts of the shaft. We observed significantly higher values of E in females than in males, which result only from statistically significantly higher values in the middle region. The higher stiffness of female primaries may also contribute to the better results of hens compared to cocks in pigeon races.
Highlights
Young’s modulus (E) is a measure for stiffness of a material and a higher E means a higher stiffness
The corneous structures in sauropsids like scales, claws, beaks, and feathers are essential formed by small proteins, formerly called beta-keratins (e.g.1,2,5,6,15,17,26), but nowadays called corneous beta-proteins (CBP)
Genes coding for CBPs have evolved within the epidermal differentiation complex (EDC), a locus with no relationship with those of the IFkeratins
Summary
Young’s modulus (E) is a measure for stiffness of a material and a higher E means a higher stiffness. The higher stiffness of female primaries may contribute to the better results of hens compared to cocks in pigeon races. To carry out their functions during flight, the shafts of avian primaries should be of low weight and tolerate a certain degree of bending without breaking. The primaries consist mainly of the protein ß-keratin[1,2], which after new findings nowadays should be termed feather corneous beta-protein (FCBP)[3,4]. It is made up by ~ 100 amino acid residues and has a molecular weight near 10 k Da2,5. In this paper we are going to study the influence of the FCBP gene polymorphism on mechanical characters by comparing rachides from racing pigeons carrying either Cys/Cys or Cys/Gly or Gly/Gly variants
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