Relationships among Sperm-Egg Penetration, Fertility and Egg Components of Chinese Painted Quail (Coturnix chinensis)1
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3923/ijps.2019.101.108Keywords:
Chinese painted quail, egg components, embryo, fertility, sperm-egg penetration, sperm storageAbstract
Background and Objectives: Birds are known to exhibit physiological polyspermy and store sperm in the female reproductive tract. The Chinese painted quail (Coturnix chinensis) serves as an excellent experimental animal model for avian reproduction studies due to its small size and rapid sexual maturity. However, information regarding the duration of fertility and the minimum number of sperm-egg penetration (SEP) holes for maximum fertility is not available for this species. Also, it is unknown if components of freshly laid or incubated eggs are altered due to the intensity of SEP and subsequent embryonic development. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the duration of fertility following male removal, the minimum SEP holes required for maximum fertility and the relationship of egg components with SEP and fertility in Chinese painted quail. Materials and Methods: From 60 breeding pairs, eggs were collected daily, labeled and weighed. Weights of albumen, yolk and shell were obtained, in addition to albumen pH, height and percentage solids as well as shell thickness. On alternate days, eggs were analyzed for SEP and fertility. To obtain duration of fertility, males were separated from the hens after obtaining at least 3 eggs for SEP per breeding pair and analysis continued until SEP was 0 for 3 consecutive eggs. Results: We observed that the duration of fertility was 9 days and the minimum SEP for >95% fertility was ~75 holes. Further, we report, for the first time, correlations between various egg components and intensity of SEP, fertility and duration of fertility. Additionally, various egg components were found to be correlated with intensity of SEP and fertility. Conclusion: It appears that sustained sperm storage is very inefficient in Chinese painted quail when compared to its close relative, the Japanese quail and other avian species in general. Also, it appears that embryonic development affects egg component weights and characteristics possibly by altering transit time of the egg through the oviduct.
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