Coturnix

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

Extinction of conditioned sexual responses in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica): role of species-typical cues.

Abstract: The authors examined how a conditioned stimulus (CS) that included species-typical cues affected the acquisition and extinction of conditioned sexual responses in male quail (Coturnix japonica). Some subjects were conditioned with a CS that supported sexual responses and included a taxidermic head of a female quail. Others were conditioned with a similar CS that lacked species-typical cues. Pairing the CSs with access to live females increased CS-directed behavior, with the head CS eliciting significantly more responding than the no-head CS. Responding to the head CS persisted during the 42-day, 126-trial extinction phase; responses to the no-head CS extinguished. Responding declined when the cues were removed or the subjects were sexually satiated. Possible functions and mechanisms of these effects are discussed.

The quail, Coturnix coturnix as a laboratory animal.

Abstract: The quail, Coturnix coturnix, is small, gentle, hardy, adaptable, easy to house, and economical to maintain. Wetherbee and Jacobs (1960) call it the “Drosophila of the avian laboratory,” and yet this charming bird is virtually unknown to the psychological laboratory. Our preliminary investigations show that the pecking operant is readily conditioned and that little or no deprivation is necessary to maintain behavior with food as a reinforcer. Visual and temporal discriminations were very quickly made. Our observations suggest that the social behavior of these birds might be a fruitful area for psychological study. On the basis of our somewhat limited observations, we believe that C. coturnix should prove a useful experimental animal for comparative studies, for basic research in learning, motivation, and perhaps social behavior, and for teaching the analysis of behavior in demonstrations and laboratory courses.

Post-testicular sperm maturation and identification of an epididymal protein in the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Abstract: The role of the avian epididymis in post-testicular development and capacitation was examined to assess whether avian spermatozoa undergo any processes similar to those characteristic of mammalian sperm development. We found no evidence of a need for quail sperm to undergo capacitation and 90% of testicular sperm could bind to a perivitelline membrane and acrosome react. However, computer-assisted sperm analysis showed that 20% of testicular sperm from the quail were capable of movement and only about 12% of the motile sperm would have a curvilinear velocity greater than the mean for sperm from the distal epididymis. Nevertheless, epididymal transit was associated with increases in mean sperm velocity and the proportion of motile sperm. Together, these findings explain why earlier workers have achieved some fertilizations following inseminations of testicular spermatozoa and also demonstrate the need for some epididymal maturation of avian spermatozoa. Analysis of the electrophoretic profile of quail epididymal luminal proteins revealed that only one major protein (∼16 kDa) is secreted by the epididymis and it was virtually the only protein secreted by the ipsilateral epididymis following unilateral orchidectomy. Mass spectrometry showed that this protein is hemoglobin; this finding was confirmed using anti-hemoglobin antibodies. It is suggested that hemoglobin may support sperm metabolism in the quail epididymis, aid in motility, and/or serve as an antioxidant.

Immunoelectron microscopic demonstration of estrogen receptors in osteogenic cells of Japanese quail.

Abstract: The localization of estrogen receptors (ERs) in osteogenic cells was immunoelectron microscopically examined in the femurs of female and estrogen-treated male Japanese quail. An electron dense reaction product showing ER localization was observed in the nuclei of osteoblasts and immature osteocytes in the medullary bone of the female quail. However, reaction product was not seen in the osteoclasts. On the endosteal bone surface of male quail, nuclear reaction product was detected in bone lining cells. After 24 h of estrogen treatment, reaction product was observed in the nuclei of preosteoblasts on the endosteal bone surface. After 48 h, the medullary bone partly appeared along the endosteal surface. Nuclear reaction product was seen in osteoblasts on the medullary bone surface.