Author(s):
Pankaj Kumar, Chandra Mohini Chaturvedi, Jag Mohan
Email(s):
pankuana@gmail.com
Address:
Department of Zoology, Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills, Doimukh, Itanagar - 791 112, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - 221 005, India Department of Physiology and Reproduction.
Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar. Bareilly - 293 122, India.
Published In:
Volume - 28,
Issue - 1,
Year - 2015
DOI:
Not Available
ABSTRACT:
Bill pigmentation, a secondary sex characteristic of many wild avian species has been utilized to develop a sensitive bioassay for male hormone. The dark color of the bill of breeding male disappears after the removal of testes, and can be quantitatively restored by the injections of appropriate amounts of male sex hormone. Present study reports bill color response of domesticated poultry bird Japanese quail. Coturnix coturnix japonica in relation to reproductive conditions during different physiological/experimental conditions. In general, sexually immature young quail has straw/whitish bill quail while sexually mature adult quail possess dark black bill. Reproductive axis of adult quail was suppressed by day length of 5-HTP melatonin (LD 8:16), ii) treatment (25pg/100g body weight daily for 45 days) and iii) 8-hr temporal relation exposure to (serotonin precursor) and L-DOPA (dopamine precursor). All these conditions/treatments in addition to suppressing cloacal gland development (androgen dependent accessory sex gland) bleached the black bill of adult quail to straw color. On the other hand. when quail exposed to either long day length (LD 16:8), pinealectomized or administered with serotonin and dopamine precursor at 12-hr interval exhibited black bill with well-developed cloacal gland. It is concluded that bill color of domesticated quail, similar to some wild species, is a reliable indicator of testicular activity and may be manipulated experimentally.
Cite this article:
Kumar, Chaturvedi, and Mohan (2015). Bill Color of Japanese Quail under Different Physiological/Experimental Conditions. Journal of Ravishankar University (Part-B: Science),28(1), pp. 35-41.