Coturnix

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

Sexual Imprinting: Effects of Various Regimens of Social Experience On Mate Preference in Japanese Quail Coturnix Coturnix Japonica

Abstract: The present investigation has focused on the relationship of social experience during different developmental stages and subsequent mating behavior. Japanese quail Coturnix coturnix japonica were employed as subjects in that these avians become sexually mature as early as 42 days posthatch and they readily mate in an experimental apparatus. Four different treatments of exposure to albino Japanese quail were compared on a number of measures to determine how a particular regimen of social experience might affect social behavior in sexually mature males. The four experimental treatments were: First, exposure to normal age-mates only for either the first 5 or 20 days posthatch and then isolation from the 2ist day posthatch (NEX). Second, exposure to albino age-mates for the first 5 days posthatch and then isolation (SEX). Third, exposure to only albino age-mates during the first 20-25 days posthatch and then isolation (PEX). Fourth, exposure to albino age-mates from day 16 through day 25, and then isolation (LEX). The first measure obtained was the experimental virgin male's approach to a confined female in a simultaneous choice test between a normal and albino female. This measure proved to be an unreliable predictor of mate preference except in the case of the NEX group. Hence, except for those cases wherein subjects are reared with typical social objects can one expect that measures such as the approach response be related to more typical social interaction such as mating. The second observation was the mount preference for either the albino or normal female in a simultaneous choice test. Both the NEX and SEX groups selected normals 100% of the time. The PEX group selected albinos in all but one case. The LEX group was essentially equivocal with respect to a preference; 6 selected normal females and 4 selected albinos. This observation demonstrates that it is possible to establish the albino coturnix female as the preferred sexual object on the basis of a program of social experience. The data are discussed in terms of mechanisms that may serve to produce the observed differences among treatment groups. The final observation was whether or not coturnix males would mount albino females (within five minutes) when they were presented alone. This later observation served to differentiate the NEX and SEX groups and suggested that sexual responsiveness toward a particular social object may result from more than a single influence. Again, data from the albino test were discussed in terms of the mechanisms that were thought to be responsible for the observed differences among groups. An imprinting mechanism is thought to be responsible for the selection of albinos in the simultaneous choice test for both the PEX and LEX groups. The rationale for such a conclusion was based on the difference between the SEX and LEX groups in the number of subjects selecting an albino female in the simultaneous choice test. No members of the SEX (early exposure period) group mounted albinos in the simultaneous choice test, whereas 4 LEX's (later exposure period) mounted albinos in the simultaneous choice test. This difference was concluded to have resulted from social experience at a later ontogenetic stage rather than due to the increased duration of exposure in that the LEX group was exposed to normals for 15 days (a greater amount than the 10 day exposure treatment) and the SEX was not exposed to normals at all. A habituation-sensitization mechanism is thought to be responsible for the difference in mounting albino females in the albino test between the NEX group and the SEX and LEX groups. No NEX mounted an albino female, whereas all SEX and LEX males mounted albino females. This interpretation is based on the observation that avians generally manifest increased fear responsiveness toward newer objects after the first few days posthatch, and that experience with novel objects has been shown to reduce subsequent fear responsivity toward the experienced object. Further, it is assumed that in addition to the generalization of habituation from the earlier exposure to albinos there also was some generalization of sensitization to albinos as social objects. The coturnix appears to be a highly suitable species for the further study of those parameters effecting preferences for albinos in a simultaneous choice test.

Vitamin A Deficiency Reduces Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF)-I Gene Expression and Increases IGF-I Receptor and Insulin Receptor Gene Expression in Tissues of Japanese Quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Abstract: The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system is regulated by various stimuli, including hormones, growth factors and nutritional status. We examined the effects of vitamin A on components of the IGF system in Japanese quail. Male quail (1 d old) fed a vitamin A-deficient diet for 14 or 21 d developed vitamin A deficiency, as confirmed by a depletion of serum retinol and hepatic retinyl palmitate. Consuming the vitamin A-deficient diet for 14 d did not affect growth rate, but decreased the serum IGF-I concentrations by 22% compared with the control group. The decreased serum IGF-I levels were accompanied by 21-52% lower levels of IGF-I mRNA in the testis, lung, liver and heart, whereas IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) and insulin receptor (IR) gene expressions were unaffected in these tissues. Continuous feeding of the vitamin A-deficient diet for 21 d retarded growth and further decreased the levels of serum IGF-I and tissue IGF-I mRNA. Serum IGF-I levels were reduced by approximately 50%; IGF-I mRNA levels were > 90% lower in the liver and lung and approximately 60% lower in the heart and testis. In contrast, levels of the IGF-IR and IR mRNAs were approximately 100% greater in some tissues examined. When vitamin A-deficient quail received a single injection of retinol or retinoic acid (0.1 mg/bird), tissue IGF-I, IGF-IR and IR gene expressions did not change after 4 h. These results suggest a possible physiologic role of the IGF system in mediating vitamin A-supported growth of Japanese quail.

A comparative karyological study of the blue-breasted quail (Coturnix chinensis, Phasianidae) and California quail (Callipepla californica, Odontophoridae)

Abstract: We conducted comparative chromosome painting and chromosome mapping with chicken DNA probes against the blue-breasted quail (Coturnix chinensis, CCH) and California quail (Callipepla californica, CCA), which are classified into the Old World quail and the New World quail, respectively. Each chicken probe of chromosomes 1-9 and Z painted a pair of chromosomes in the blue-breasted quail. In California quail, chicken chromosome 2 probe painted chromosomes 3 and 6, and chicken chromosome 4 probe painted chromosomes 4 and a pair of microchromosomes. Comparison of the cytogenetic maps of the two quail species with those of chicken and Japanese quail revealed that there are several intrachromosomal rearrangements, pericentric and/or paracentric inversions, in chromosomes 1, 2 and 4 between chicken and the Old World quail. In addition, a pericentric inversion was found in chromosome 8 between chicken and the three quail species. Ordering of the Z-linked DNA clones revealed the presence of multiple rearrangements in the Z chromosomes of the three quail species. Comparing these results with the molecular phylogeny of Galliformes species, it was also cytogenetically supported that the New World quail is classified into a different clade from the lineage containing chicken and the Old World quail.

Sexual dimorphism in the neuronal circuits of the quail preoptic and limbic regions.

Abstract: A sexually dimorphic nucleus is located in the preoptic area of Japanese quail and plays a key role in the activation of male copulatory behavior. The medial preoptic nucleus (POM) is significantly larger in adult male than in adult female quail. Its volume is steroid-sensitive in adulthood and consequently decreases after castration but is restored to normal levels by a treatment with exogenous testosterone. This volumetric difference appears to result only from a sex difference in the adult hormonal milieu and is not affected by embryonic treatments that permanently modify sexual behavior (no organizational effects). In contrast, some cytoarchitectonic features of the POM such as the size of neurons in the dorso-lateral part of nucleus appear to be irreversibly affected by embryonic steroids. The POM is characterized by the presence of a wide variety of neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, and receptors and can be specifically identified by the presence of a dense cluster of aromatase-immunoreactive cells, by a high density of neurotensin-immunoreactive cells and fibers and by a dense vasotocinergic innervation. Some of these neurochemical markers of the dimorphic nucleus are themselves modulated by steroids. Many of these neurochemical changes appear to play a causal role in the control of male sexual behavior. The quail POM thus represents an excellent model for the analysis of steroid-induced brain plasticity in a behaviorally relevant context.