Female Quail Research Articles

Effect of increasing valine level in the diet on performance, egg quality, and serum components in laying quails.

This research was conducted to determine the effect of increasing dietary valine level on performance parameters, egg quality criteria, and blood and serum components. In the study, 120 female Japanese quails at the age of 10weeks (241.4 ± 8.6g) did randomly allocate to six experimental groups contained five subgroups. Treatment diets were prepared to contain 0.93% (control), 1.00%, 1.10%, 1.20%, 1.30%, or 1.40% valine. The egg mass decreased linearly with the increasing level of valine in the diet, while egg weight decreased in both linear and quadratic manner (P < 0.05). Increased levels of dietary valine increased eggshell breaking strength in cubic manner (P < 0.05). The administration of the valine to the diet caused a linear decrease in the albumin index and Haugh unit (P < 0.05). Other egg quality parameters were not affected (P > 0.05). Serum glucose and triglyceride concentrations of laying quails were reduced by the increasing dietary valine levels; the effect on serum glucose was linear, while both linear and quadratic effects were significant on triglyceride concentration (P < 0.05). White blood cell, lymphocyte, and neutrophil counts increased with the increasing dietary levels of valine (P < 0.05). Both linear and quadratic effects were significant on white blood cells and lymphocytes, while the effect on neutrophil counts was linear. However, erythrocyte and haematocrit (P < 0.05) decreased quadratically with increment in the dietary levels of valine. In conclusion, the increased valine levels in the diet adversely affected the egg weight, egg mass, and Haugh unit. but it reduced the serum triglyceride and glucose. Results may suggest that dietary valine at 0.93% level is sufficient for egg production and egg quality in laying quails, but positive effects of increased dietary valine levels on white blood cells may worth to investigate further.

The efficacy of translocation as a tool to augment populations of Gambel's quail

AbstractTranslocation is a management strategy that can be used to augment and reestablish populations or increase a species' range by establishing new populations. Gambel's quail (Callipepla gambelii) are the only native upland game birds in many desert areas of the American Southwest. Drought may be a driver in Gambel's quail population declines; however, quail in urban environments may remain abundant because these areas may contain more reliable sources of food, water, and cover. We hypothesized that translocation of urban quail following a wet winter, when resources are plentiful in their native habitat, might allow us to increase the rate at which extant populations are able to recover following drought by capitalizing on the high reproductive capacity of quail. To assess translocation as a management tool for augmentation of populations of Gambel's quail, we translocated 370 quail from 2019 to 2021 to augment 2 sites in the Altar Valley in Arizona, USA: King's Anvil Ranch (KA) and Santa Margarita Ranch (SM). We radiotracked 155 female quail on 2 study areas (KA: n = 77, SM: n = 78) to estimate 200‐day post‐release survival. Release site had the most impact on demographic rates. Quail in KA had higher survival (63.4–70.9%) than quail in SM (19.3–33.1%); however, quail in SM had higher nesting effort and success (nest effort = 63%, nest success = 50%) than quail in KA (nest effort = 33%, nest success: 0%) in the first year. Although this study showed that urban quail can survive and reproduce following translocation, neither site showed both high survival and high reproductive success. Furthermore, although spring call counts indicated augmentation may have had some short‐term benefits due to increased reproductive activity, we are not able to conclude that it increased quail abundance. Given the low annual adult survival rates of Gambel's quail, high spring‐summer survival alone will not be enough to boost wild populations in a measurable way the following year. Therefore, the ability of translocation to augment extant populations may be limited by low and variable reproductive success.

Influence of Organic Iron Enriched Diets on Performance, Egg Quality, Blood Haematological and Biochemical Constituents in Quails

The current research was carried out to investigate the effect of diets enriched with different levels of organic iron on performance, egg quality, blood haematological parameters, and serum biochemical constituents in laying quails. In the study, 120 female quails at 20 weeks of age were allocated to 5 treatment groups with 6 replicates of 4 quails in each. Experimental diets were formed by adding 0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 mg/kg of iron (iron-glycine) to the diet containing 96 mg/kg of iron. Performance parameters of quails were not affected by the supplementation of organic iron to diet (P&gt;0.05). The supplementation of organic iron affected as quadratic only the eggshell breaking strength among the egg external quality parameters, and it was maximum at 150 mg/kg organic iron addition (P&lt;0.01). Egg yolk a* value, which is one of the egg internal quality parameters, was linearly affected by organic iron addition, but other parameters were not affected (P&lt;0.01). The administration of organic iron to the diet linearly increased the serum iron level (P&lt;0.01), the serum phosphorus level was affected quadratically (P&lt;0.05) and reached a maximum at 150 mg/kg. Among the blood haematology parameters, white blood cell and monocyte counts linearly increased with the addition of organic iron to the diet (P&lt;0.01), but other parameters were not affected. According to the results obtained from current research, it can be said that enrichment of laying quail diets with organic iron up to 150 mg/kg level improved eggshell breaking strength without affecting performance, however, it negatively affected blood parameters by increasing white blood cell and monocyte without changing blood red cell parameters.

PT150 blocks the rewarding properties of ethanol and attenuates ethanol-induced reduction of egg laying in Coturnix quail.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been shown to be associated with a dysregulated stress system. Reducing the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT), that binds to glucocorticoid receptors, may attenuate the rewarding properties of drugs of abuse. However, the effect of blocking corticosterone receptors on ethanol reward has yet to be investigated. The current study investigated whether the stress hormone receptor antagonist, PT150, would block the rewarding properties of ethanol via the glucocorticoid receptor system and attenuate other ethanol-induced effects. A conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure was used to examine the rewarding properties of ethanol in an avian preclinical model. Ethanol was paired with the least preferred chamber. On alternate days, water was paired with the preferred chamber. After eight pairings, a place preference test was given that allowed subjects to have access to both chambers. Half of the subjects received PT150 prior to ethanol administration. The other half received vehicle. Time spent in each chamber during the preference tests, locomotor activity during the pairings, and egg production in female birds was recorded. Ethanol treatment resulted in a CPP and pretreatment of PT150 blocked the acquisition of the ethanol-induced place preference. Neither ethanol nor PT150 altered locomotor activity. Pretreatment of PT150 also increased egg production in female quail treated with ethanol. These findings suggest repeated ethanol pairings with visual cues can produce a CPP. Furthermore, pretreatment of PT150 may be a potential pharmacotherapy for blocking the rewarding properties of ethanol and may enhance egg production in female quail treated with ethanol.

Japon Bıldırcınlarında Yumurtlama Döneminde Yeme Rezene (Foeniculum Vulgare Mill.) İlavesinin Yumurta Verimi, Kesim ve Karkas Özellikleri, Bağırsaklarda Parazit Oluşumu ve Spermatolojik Kalite Üzerine Etkisi

This study was carried out to determine the effects of supplementation of ground fennel to quail rations on egg production, slaughter, intestinal parasites, and semen quality. For this purpose, 48 female and 24 male quails were used in the study. The experimental groups consisted of the control group with basal feed + 0% ground fennel, and the GF1, GF2, and GF4 groups with ground fennel-supplemented basal feed by 1%, 2%, and 4% respectively, also each group was designed in pairs. The weekly live weight values were found to be numerically higher in the groups with fennel-supplemented rations than in the control group. In addition, the live weight values of female and male quails were also numerically higher in the groups with fennel-supplemented rations. Egg weight, egg production, and feed intake of female quails were high, especially in the GF2 group. Furthermore, the feed conversion ratio was superior in the GF2 group. Regarding the slaughter and carcass parts, the fennel-supplemented groups were numerically higher than the control group. It was observed that the oviduct weight increased with the growing fennel ratio. In addition, the fennel supplementation increased the semen concentration in male quails. The increasing fennel addition enhanced the abnormal and dead spermatozoa rates and decreased semen motility. As a result of the macroscopic examination of the intestinal lumen of the quails in the control and fennel-supplemented groups, no adult helminths were detected; however, Giardia spp.-like cysts were observed. As a result, the usage of ground fennel as a feed additive by 2% had a positive effect on yield characteristics of female quails, and the use by 1% had a positive effect on male quails. Consequently, the usage of ground fennel as a feed additive would be beneficial in quail farming.

IMPACT OF EGG SHELL AND SPOTS COLOUR ON THE QUALITY OF HATCHING EGGS DERIVED FROM THREE LINES OF LOCAL QUAIL

This study was carried out to analyze the impact of lines, egg shell colour and intraction between (Line ⁎ eggshell colours) on egg quality characteristics and hatching parameters assess the correlation between these traits in three local quail eggs (desert, brown and white). A total of 409 eggs were collected from female quails during 16 weeks divided into five groups on the basis of eggshell colour and spot colour for each line. The results revealed that there were significant (P≤0.05) variances among lines for quality characteristics of the whole egg (weight, length, width, Egg volume, Haugh unit), albumen (weight, height, diameter), yolk (weight, height, index, Yolk/albumen) and shell (weight, thickness, egg surface area, unit surface). The desert line resulted in the best quality. The results demonstrated that internal and external egg quality characters were differed significantly among egg shell colour. Whereas, yolk parameters such as: yolk weight, yolk height, Yolk diameter and Yolk percentage revealed no significance differences among these groups. Phenotypic correlation appeared that there were significant correlation coefficients among the internal and external egg quality traits. The incubation characteristics, fertility, hatchability of fertile eggs, hatchability of set eggs and Chick hatching weight were significantly differences among eggshell colour groups within lines.

EFFECT OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION WITH CLOMIPHENE CITRATE ON SOME PRODUCTIVE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAITS OF LAYING JAPANESE QUAIL

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementation different levels of Clomiphene citrate to the diet of female quail on productive and some physiological traits. The experiment was conducted in a commercial farm from 2/3/2021 to 24/5/2021 (3 months). Females aged 50 weeks (160 females) were randomly distributed into four treatments, and each treatment included four replicates (10 birds for each replicate). The treatments were divided into a control group (T1; basic diet only), second treatment (T2; basic diet + 0.25 mg / female / day), third treatment (T3; basic diet + 0.50 mg / female / day, fourth treatment (T4; basic diet + 0.75 mg / female / day Clomiphene citrate). The results of the study indicated a significant improvement in favor of the addition treatments compared with the control treatment when calculating the average (%) of eggs production, the average of eggs weight (gm), the average of eggs mass (gm/female/day), and cumulative egg number (egg/female). As for the physiological characteristics, the results shown a high concentration of calcium and phosphorous in the blood serum within the additive treatments compared with the control While there were no significant differences observed among treatments in total protein, albumin, globulin, and cholesterol. It could be conclude from this study that the addition of Clomiphene citrate to the diet improved the reproductive and physiological characteristics of female quail.

Bıldırcınlarda Rasyon Chia Tohumu ve Yağının Performans, Yumurta Kalitesi ve Serum Bileşenleri Üzerine Etkisi

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of dietary chia seeds and oil levels in laying quails on performance, external and internal egg quality traits, and serum biochemical properties. Total of 90 female Japanese quails 10 weeks old were randomly allocated to five treatment groups consisting of six subgroups, each containing of 3 quails. Quails were fed for 10 weeks with five treatment diets prepared by adding chia seeds (1 and 2%) and chia oil (0.5 and 1.0 g/kg) to the basal diet (control). Body weight change was improved by dietary addition of 2% chia seeds (P&amp;lt;0.05), but other performance traits were not affected by the treatments (P&amp;gt;0.05). Compared to control, the supplementation of chia seeds (1 and 2%) and 0.5 g/kg of chia oil to the diet was effective in increasing the eggshell resistance (P&amp;lt;0.01). Other egg quality parameters did not affected by the administration of chia seeds and oil to the diet (P&amp;gt;0.05). Serum glucose and HDL levels increased with the addition of chia seeds (%1) and oil (0.5 and 1.0 g/kg) to the diet (P&amp;lt;0.01 and P&amp;lt;0.05, respectively). Serum calcium level, on the other hand, was adversely affected by the addition of high levels of chia seeds (%2) and oil (1.0 g/kg) to the diet (P&amp;lt;0.01). As a result, chia seeds was effective in improving eggshell quality, and chia oil was effective in improving serum glucose and HDL levels in laying quails.

Impact of Different Ambient Temperatures on Egg-Laying and Hatching Parameters in Japanese Quail

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of different ambient temperatures on egg production and hatching parameters in Japanese quail. Sixteen weeks old male and female Japanese quail were assigned to 10 cages as 1 male and 5 females. Quails were housed in a poultry yard belonging to the Faculty of Agriculture. Quails were reared under 16 hours’ light and 8 hours’ dark photoperiod. During the study, water and food were freely available as ad-libitum. Regularly egging five layer cages were selected and their laying and hatching performances were compared for three weeks when there were highest differences in average room temperatures (22.38 ± 0.21; 23.10 ± 0.04 and 23.76 ± 0.18°C). Changes in weekly mean ambient temperatures did not affect egg weights, egg mass, weekly egg laid/hen, and weekly egg weight/hen. Fertility and hatching rates were also not significantly changed (P&amp;gt;0.05). Lower ambient temperature (22.38°C) caused a significant reduction in hatchability and increment in embryonic mortality as compared with the 23.10°C group. It is possible to postulate from the data presented here that the best room temperature for hatchability and lower embryonic mortality in Japanese quail, is around 23°C.

The effect of acidifier supplementation on egg production performance and intestinal histology of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica).

Acidifier are substances with antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial, performance and health benefits that are frequently employed in feed acidification, especially in poultry diet. Meanwhile, the most important factor for acidifier efficiency is the proportion of different acids in the final product. This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of a commercial acidifier on egg production and histology of the small intestine in laying Japanese quail. One-hundred and sixty female quails at 15 weeks of age were divided into four groups and fed basal diet supplemented with different levels of acidifier (0, 1, 2 and 3 gr acidifier/kg of basal diet) for 8 weeks. Egg production, egg quality attributes and body weight (BW) were measured every 2 weeks. Histology of the small intestine and bacterial population of cecum as well as pH of crop, duodenum, jejunum, ileum and cecum contents were also investigated at the end of the experiment. Feed conversion ratio (FCR), yolk height, shell thickness, pH of the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum; duodenum, villus width (VW), villus height (VH), crypt depth (CD); jejunum VH, VW and ileum VH to CD ratio (VCR) were linearly improved by the increasing levels of acidifier supplementation (P <0.05). Duodenum VH increased in a linear and quadratic manner in response to increasing levels of acidifier. Egg weight, yolk diameter, jejunum CD, ileum CD, ileum VW, duodenum CD and jejunum VCR quadratically improved by grading levels of acidifier (P <0.01). BW, albumen height, Haugh unit, ileum VH and ileum VCR were cubically enhanced (P <0.05). Acidifier supplementation enhanced egg production, FCR, jejunum, ileum and cecum pH and VH, CD and VW of duodenum and jejunum, compared to the control group (P <0.05); however, dietary acidifier did not affect egg mass, gizzard pH, ileum VH and bacterial count of the cecum (P >0.05). In conclusion, as calculated, the supplementation of 1 and 2.6g acidifier per kg of diet was associated with beneficial effects on egg production and quality, gastrointestinal tract pH and histology of the small intestine in laying quails.

Distribution and heterogeneity of mast cells in different regions of the genital canal in female quails during the prepubertal and postpubertal periods

Amaç: Bu çalışmada dişi bıldırcınlarda (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) puberte öncesi ve sonrası dönemlerde genital kanalın farklı bölgelerinde yer alan mast hücrelerinin heterojenitesi ile dağılımının farklı tespit solüsyonları ve boyama yöntemleri ile ortaya konulması amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Yapılan çalışmada 10 adet puberte öncesi ve 10 adet puberte sonrası dönemde sağlıklı dişi bıldırcınlara ait genital kanaldan (infundibulum, magnum, istmus, uterus, vajina) alınan doku örnekleri materyal olarak kullanıldı. Her iki gruptan alınan doku örneklerinin bir kısmı %10’luk nötral formaldehit, bir kısmı ise izotonik formaldehit asetik asit tespit solüsyonunda tespit edildi. Dokulardan alınan kesitlere Toluidin mavisi ve alcian blue/safranin O boyama yöntemleri uygulandı. Bulgular: Hazırlanan preparatlar ışık mikroskopta incelendiğinde her iki tespit solüsyonunda da yuvarlak, oval ya da mekik şekilli mast hücreleri özellikle kan damarları çevresinde yerleşmiş olarak genital kanalın tunika mukoza, tunika muskularis ve tunika seroza katmanlarında gözlendi. Mast hücrelerinin hem puberte öncesi hem de puberte sonrası dönemde en çok uterusta yerleştiği; ardından sırasıyla istmus, magnum, vagina ve infundibulumda gittikçe azalan yoğunluk gösterdiği gözlendi. Mast hücrelerinin infundibulumda puberte sonrası dönemde puberte öncesi döneme göre önemli oranda (p&lt;0,05) arttığı belirlendi. İFAA ile tespit edilen tüm dokularda mast hücrelerinin daha belirgin boyandığı ve sayısal olarak değerlendirmede de %10’luk nötral formaldehit tespitine göre daha fazla olduğu gözlendi. Öneri: Sonuç olarak özellikle puberte sonrası dönemde infundibulumda mast hücre sayısının arttığı; bu artışın yumurta oluşumu ve yumurtlamaya yönelik etkisinin olabileceği kanaatine varıldı. Anahtar kelimeler: Bıldırcın, genital kanal, mast hücre dağılımı.

Performance, Egg Quality, and Yolk Antioxidant Capacity of the Laying Quail in Response to Dietary Choline Levels.

The current study determined the ideal dose of choline in the diet of laying quails based on egg development, egg quality, and antioxidant capacity. A total of 120 female quails (244.7 ± 10.38 g) were randomly assigned to 6 experimental groups with 5 replicates of 4 quails each. In the 10-week trial, treatment diets were formed by adding 6 choline chloride−60% concentrations providing 1500 (control), 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500, and 4000 mg/kg of choline. The feed intake of quails was quadratically affected (p < 0.05) by the choline level of the diet, in other developmental parameters, and by egg quality among these treatments. The feed intake was reduced to 2500 and 3000 mg/kg levels of choline in the diet compared to the control group. Free radical scavenging capacity (DPPH) of the yolk increased linearly (p < 0.001) with dietary choline levels. In contrast, the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value decreased as dietary choline levels increased, except for 4000 mg/kg levels. Based on the findings of the current study, 1500 mg/kg of dietary choline is adequate to maintain performance parameters and egg quality in laying quails. However, to increase egg antioxidant capacity, in terms of the DPPH value, the dietary choline dose needs to be increased to 3500 mg/kg.

DEHP triggers a damage severity grade increase in the jejunum in quail (Coturnix japonica) by disturbing nuclear xenobiotic receptors and the Nrf2-mediated defense response

As a plasticizer, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) has been listed as a potential endocrine disruptor by The World Health Organization. The toxicity of DEHP has been widely studied, but its toxicity on the digestive tract of birds has not been clarified. Female quail were treated by gavage with DEHP (250, 500, 750 mg/kg), with the blank and vehicle control groups reserved. The result showed that DEHP raised the damage severity grade, and decreased the ratio of villus length to crypt depth. The content and activity of cytochrome P450 system (CYP450s) were increased by DEHP. DEHP interfered with the transcription of nuclear xenobiotic receptors (NXRs), CYP isoforms, and the nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway. This study revealed DEHP could cause the imbalance in CYP450s mediated by NXRs, and then promote Nrf2 mediated antioxidant defense. This study provided new evidence about the mechanisms of DEHP-induced toxic effects on digestive tract.

Laying performance, egg quality, fertility, nutrient digestibility, digestive enzymes activity, gut microbiota, intestinal morphology, antioxidant capacity, mucosal immunity, and cytokine levels in meat-type Japanese quail breeders fed different phytogenic levels

A total of 180 female Japanese quail breeders were allocated to 5 treatments with 6 replicates of 6 birds and fed a diet supplemented with 0, 125, 250, 500, or 1000 mg/kg of a phytogenic feed additive (PFA) in a 9-wk experiment. Egg weight, feed efficiency, shell breaking strength and calcium content, specific gravity, Haugh unit, and percentages of fertile eggs increased with increasing PFA levels (P < 0.05). Increasing of PFA levels increased nutrient digestibility, dietary AMEn, and activities of digestive enzymes in the pancreas and intestinal digesta (P < 0.05). Supplementation of PFA reduced Escherichia coli (P < 0.05), Clostridium spp. (P < 0.05) and Salmonella spp. counts (P < 0.05), while increased Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp. counts in the ileal and cecal contents (P < 0.05). Dietary PFA increased jejunal villus height and decreased ileal crypt depth (P < 0.05). Serum diamine oxidase activity and D-lactate level were decreased with increase in PFA level (P < 0.05). Increasing PFA levels increased glutathione peroxidase activity in the pancreas, small intestine, and cecal tonsil, but decreased malondialdehyde contents (P < 0.05). Birds fed PFA exhibited increased levels of secretory IgA in the intestinal mucosa (P < 0.05), and increased the percentage of CD3+ T cells, ratio of CD4+/CD8+ T cells, and cytokine concentrations in the cecal tonsils (P < 0.05). In conclusion, PFA could improve gut health and nutrient utilization and, therefore, benefit productivity, egg quality, and fertility in quails.

The Use of Some Nonlinear Functions to Explain Growth in Japanese Quails with Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines Algorithm

The study aimed was to determine the best nonlinear function describing the growth stages of the Japanese quail breed. To this aim, growth functions such as exponential, logistic, von Bertalanffy, Brody, and Gompertz were used as nonlinear functions is used in the description of the body weight-age relationship of male and female Japanese quails. The Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) data mining algorithm was applied to the individual growth parameters obtained from the determined as the best fit model, and the relationship between sex and growth parameters with it has been revealed. The study dataset was 1267 body weight-age records collected from the hatching to the 6th week of age of 181 Japanese quails consisting of 90 females and 91 males. Each model was applied separately for both males and females. Model fit criteria such as coefficient of determination (R2), adjusted coefficient of determination (R2adj), Akaike's information criterion (AIC), and Bayes information criterion (BIC) were used to evaluate the performances of the growth functions used individually. All the statistical analyses were made by the R package program. The growth curve models were ranked in the form of Logistic &gt; Gompertz &gt; von Bertalanffy &gt; Brody &gt; Exponential according to the goodness of fit criteria. The most suitable model among the non-linear models in terms of performance was logistic. When the relationship between the growth curve parameters and body weight of the logistic model was explained with the MARS algorithm, the goodness of fit criteria showed that the obtained MARS model showed reliable performance. In addition, Pearson’s correlation coefficient between real and estimated body weight was found quite strong for the MARS algorithm (r=0.935). The results showed that the MARS algorithm can be presented as a good reference for breeders to establish breed standards and selection strategies for Japanese quails in growth parameters for breeding purposes.

A novel source of calcium: effects of calcium pidolate concentration on egg quality in aged laying quails (Coturnix coturnix Japonica)

AbstractCalcium content in the diet can affect egg quality and production in aged birds. Calcium pidolate is a new form of calcium supplementation in poultry diets, which favours the absorption of this mineral. The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary calcium pidolate concentration in the diets of aged laying Japanese quails. A total of 120 female quails (27 weeks old) were assigned to four treatment groups, each with six replicates of five quails per pen. In the 10-week trial, quail diets were supplemented with calcium pidolate at four concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 g/kg), providing 25.1, 25.4, 25.8 and 26.5 g/kg calcium, respectively. As a result of this study, body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio did not change with the concentration of calcium pidolate (P &gt; 0.05). In contrast, albumen and yolk index decreased as calcium pidolate level increased (P &lt; 0.05). Moreover, calcium pidolate at a concentration of 0.50 g/kg resulted in the greatest egg production, eggshell breaking strength and eggshell thickness (P &lt; 0.05), while above these levels the factors studied were negatively affected. According to these results, the optimal concentration of calcium pidolate in the diets of aged laying quails was 0.50 g/kg.

Lead induced disorders of lipid metabolism and glycometabolism in the liver of developmental Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) via inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

The lead (Pb) contamination is considered a lethal threat to birds. However, Pb-induced hepatotoxicology especially its impacts on metabolic processes in the liver of birds is not yet fully understood. Therefore, we tried to determine the toxicological effects of Pb exposure on hepatic carbohydrate and lipid metabolism via Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) pathway by using an animal model- Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). One-week old female Japanese quails were randomly allocated into four groups and fed with 0, 50 ppm, 500 ppm and 1000 ppm Pb drinking water respectively for 49 days. The results showed that Pb accumulated in the liver as a dose-dependent manner. Exposure to high dose of Pb (500 and 1000 ppm Pb) led to severe histopathological damages characterized by irregularity and dilation of liver sinusoids, hepatic lipid vacuolization and hepatocellular cytoplasm hyalinization. Meanwhile, Pb exposure caused glycogen increase and lipid droplets decrease in the liver. Pb exposure was also attributable to a decreased triglyceride level in the plasma. In addition, the transcriptional levels of PI3K and Akt in the liver were downregulated by Pb exposure. Subsequently, the mRNA expressions of genes related with glycometabolism in the liver were remarkably altered and the mRNA levels of genes involved in fat synthesis and oxidation in the liver were also markedly changed. it seems that Pb could lead to liver metabolic disorder through structural damages and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway disruption.

The effect of infection risk on female blood transcriptomics

Defenses against pathogens can take on many forms. For instance, behavioral avoidance of diseased conspecifics is widely documented. Interactions with these infectious conspecifics can also, however, lead to physiological changes in uninfected animals, an effect that is much less well understood. These changes in behavior and physiology are particularly important to study in a reproductive context, where they can impact reproductive decisions and offspring quality. Here, we studied how an acute (3 h) exposure to an immune-challenged male affected female blood transcriptomics and behavior. We predicted that females paired with immune-challenged males would reduce eating and drinking behaviors (as avoidance behaviors) and that their blood would show activation of immune and stress responses. We used female Japanese quail as a study system because they have been shown to respond to male traits, in terms of their own physiology and egg investment. Only two genes showed significant differential expression due to treatment, including an increase in the threonine dehydrogenase (TDH) transcript, an enzyme important for threonine breakdown. However, hundreds of genes in pathways related to activation of immune responses showed coordinated up-regulation in females exposed to immune-challenged males. Suppressed pathways revealed potential changes to metabolism and reduced responsiveness to glucocorticoids. Contrary to our prediction, we found that females paired with immune-challenged males increased food consumption. Water consumption was not changed by treatment. These findings suggest that even short exposure to diseased conspecifics can trigger both behavioral and physiological responses in healthy animals.

Effects of different inorganic selenium levels in laying quails (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) diets on performance, egg quality, and serum biochemical parameters

Inorganic selenium supplementation in poultry diet has been controversial. It has been linked that the excess and deficiency of this mineral can lead to health problems in these animals. However, this fact is not so evident in quails. In this research 120 female quails (220.6 ± 8.2 g) at 10 weeks of age were allocated to five treatment groups with six replicates of four quails in each. Experimental diets were formed by adding 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 or1.00 mg/kg of inorganic selenium (sodium-selenite) to the diet containing 0.12 mg/kg of selenium. We observed that performance parameters, mortality, egg external, and internal quality of quails were not affected by the supplementation of inorganic selenium to the diet Serum glucose (P = 0.0020) and creatinine (P = 0.0333) levels were affected by inorganic selenium supplementation, but no differences were found for other parameters among those treatments. The addition of 0.50 mg/kg of inorganic selenium to the diet increased serum glucose levels of laying quails compared with the control group. While serum creatinine level was maximized with the addition of 0.25 mg/kg inorganic selenium to the diet, and it was minimized with the addition of 0.50 mg/kg inorganic selenium. Supplementation with inorganic selenium (0 to 1.00 mg/kg) in laying quail diets did not have any adverse effect on performance, mortality, and egg quality during the study. No abnormalities were found in the serum parameters that would lead to the suspicion of metabolic disease in the quails.

Identification of reference genes for studies of quantitative gene expression in male and female quail tissues.

In industrial poultry, quail production has gained increasing prominence over the years. It is known that the intensification of genetic studies has contributed greatly to this growth, through techniques, such as analysis of gene expression by PCR, for example. This study aimed to evaluate stability and recommend reference genes for quantitative real-time PCR in different tissues from male and female broiler quails. The stability of 10 housekeeping genes (GAPDH, RPL5, MRPS27, MRPS30, TFRC, HMBS, EEF1, LDHA, B2M, and UBC) by means Bestkeeper, NormFinder, GeNorm softwares with ΔCq method. The tissues analyzed were: heart, thigh muscle, brain, and spleen, considering that they are tissues commonly used in nutrigenomic, immunological, and poultry performance research. As expected, the reference genes tested showed varying stability depending on the tissue evaluated. According to the present study, the most stable housekeeping genes were MRPS30, TFRC, and HMBS in heart; MRPS30, EEF1, and HMBS in thigh muscle; B2M, GAPDH, and UBC in brain; and EEF1, LDHA, and HMBS in spleen. Therefore, it is recommended to be used as reference genes for gene expression studies of male and female quails.