Coturnix

About: Coturnix is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 953 publications have been published within this topic receiving 23305 citations.

Effect of egg turning and incubation time on carbonic anhydrase gene expression in the blastoderm of the Japanese quail (Coturnix c. japonica).

Abstract: 1. The gene expression of carbonic anhydrase, a key enzyme for the production of sub-embryonic fluid (SEF), was assessed in turned and unturned eggs of the Japanese quail. The plasma membrane-associated isoforms CA IV, CA IX, CA XII, CA XIV, and the cytoplasmic isoform CA II, were investigated in the extra-embryonic tissue of the blastoderm and in embryonic blood. 2. Eggs were incubated at 37·6°C, c.60% RH, and turned hourly (90°) or left unturned. From 48 to 96 h of incubation mRNA was extracted from blastoderm tissue, reverse-transcribed to cDNA and quantified by real-time qPCR using gene-specific primers. Blood collected at 96 h was processed identically. 3. Blastoderm CA IV gene expression increased with the period of incubation only in turned eggs, with maxima at 84 and 96 h of incubation. Only very low levels were found in blood. 4. Blastoderm CA II gene expression was greatest at 48 and 54 h of incubation, subsequently declining to much lower levels and unaffected by turning. Blood CA II gene expre...

Thermoregulatory and metabolic responses of Japanese quail to hypoxia.

Abstract: Common responses to hypoxia include decreased body temperature ( T b ) and decreased energy metabolism. In this study, the effects of hypoxia and hypercapnia on T b and metabolic oxygen consumption (V.O 2 ) were investigated in Japanese quail ( Coturnix japonica ). When exposed to hypoxia (15, 13, 11 and 9% O 2 ), T b decreased only at 11% and 9% O 2 compared to normoxia; quail were better able to maintain T b during acute hypoxia after a one-week acclimation to 10% O 2 . V.O 2 also decreased during hypoxia, but at 9% O 2 this was partially offset by increased anaerobic metabolism. T b and V.O 2 responses to 9% O 2 were exaggerated at lower ambient temperature ( T a ), reflecting a decreased lower critical temperature during hypoxia. Conversely, hypoxia had little effect on T b or V.O 2 at higher T a (36 °C). We conclude that Japanese quail respond to hypoxia in much the same way as mammals, by reducing both T b and V.O 2 . No relationship was found between the magnitudes of decreases in T b and V.O 2 during 9% O 2 , however. Since metabolism is the source of heat generation, this suggests that Japanese quail increase thermolysis to reduce T b . During hypercapnia (3, 6 and 9% CO 2 ), T b was reduced only at 9% CO 2 while V.O 2 was unchanged.