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
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.
Journal of Ravishankar University-B. 28, 35-41 (2015)
Bill Color of
Japanese Quail under Different Physiological/Experimental Conditions
Pankaj Kumara,*, Chandra Mohini Chaturvedib and
Jag Mohanc
aDepartment of Zoology, Rajiv Gandhi
University, Rono Hills, Doimukh, Itanagar - 791 112, Arunachal Pradesh, India
bDepartment of Zoology, Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi - 221 005, India Department of Physiology and
Reproduction.
cCentral Avian Research Institute,
Izatnagar. Bareilly - 293 122, India
*Corresponding Author:pankuana@gmail.com
(Received 3 August 2014; revised version received S February 2015:
accepted 12 February 2015)
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.
Keywords: Bill color. 5-HTP, L-DOPA,
melatonin, pincalectomy, photoperiod
NOTE: Full version of this
manuscript is available in PDF.