Dataset Information

Post-hatch heat warms adult beaks: irreversible physiological plasticity in Japanese quail.

ABSTRACT: Across taxa, the early rearing environment contributes to adult morphological and physiological variation. For example, in birds, environmental temperature plays a key role in shaping bill size and clinal trends across latitudinal/thermal gradients. Such patterns support the role of the bill as a thermal window and in thermal balance. It remains unknown whether bill size and thermal function are reversibly plastic. We raised Japanese quail in warm (30°C) or cold (15°C) environments and then at a common intermediate temperature. We predicted that birds raised in cold temperatures would develop smaller bills than warm-reared individuals, and that regulation of blood flow to the bill in response to changing temperatures would parallel the bill's role in thermal balance. Cold-reared birds developed shorter bills, although bill size exhibited 'catch-up' growth once adults were placed at a common temperature. Despite having lived in a common thermal environment as adults, individuals that were initially reared in the warmth had higher bill surface temperatures than cold-reared individuals, particularly under cold conditions. This suggests that blood vessel density and/or the control over blood flow in the bill retained a memory of early thermal ontogeny. We conclude that post-hatch temperature reversibly affects adult bill morphology but irreversibly influences the thermal physiological role of bills and may play an underappreciated role in avian energetics.

SUBMITTER: Burness G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3735260 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Post-hatch heat warms adult beaks: irreversible physiological plasticity in Japanese quail.

Burness Gary G Huard Jacqueline R JR Malcolm Emily E Tattersall Glenn J GJ

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20130724 1767

Across taxa, the early rearing environment contributes to adult morphological and physiological variation. For example, in birds, environmental temperature plays a key role in shaping bill size and clinal trends across latitudinal/thermal gradients. Such patterns support the role of the bill as a thermal window and in thermal balance. It remains unknown whether bill size and thermal function are reversibly plastic. We raised Japanese quail in warm (30°C) or cold (15°C) environments and then at a ...[more]

PMID: 23884093

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Project description:The present work was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary propolis supplementation to laying Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) on egg production, egg quality, physiological and immunological aspects under heat stress conditions. A total of 200, 21-day-old, Japanese quail females were distributed equally into standard wired cages in two identical environmentally-controlled rooms (10 cages per room, 10 birds per cage). From 29-70 d of age, the quail birds in the first room remained at a normal temperature of 24°C (C group), whereas the quail birds in the second room were kept under heat stress at 35°C (HS group). Each group was further assigned to 2 propolis subgroups (5 cages per subgroup); one of them received a basal diet without propolis supplementation (-PR subgroup), while, the other received 1 g propolis/ kg basal diet (+PR subgroup). In the present study, performance and egg production of laying quail were significantly (P<0.001) impaired by HS treatment and improved by the PR treatment. Similarly, the negative and positive effects of HS and PR, respectively, were appeared on the egg shell thickness and yolk index. Stress indicators in laying quail were significantly (P<0.001) increased by HS, while, PR significantly (P<0.05) moderated these levels in the HS+PR group when compared to the HS-PR quail group. In addition to the positive impact of PR on the plasma levels of calcium, phosphorus, and albumin, it also normalized the plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase and cholesterol in the heat-stressed quail birds. Moreover, the quail birds in the HS groups expressed lower immunological aspects than those in the C group, while, the addition of propolis to the diets enhanced the immune status of laying quail birds under HS conditions. These results strongly suggest that dietary propolis supplementation could be a successful attempt to maintain the performance and egg production of laying Japanese quail at convenient levels under heat stress conditions.

Project description:A strategy to mitigate the negative effects of stress on animals is to enhance their ability to beneficially respond to stressful conditions. This study aimed to assess whether prenatal ambient temperature influences the response of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) chicks to environmental challenges during growth. The experiment was conducted in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement: two temperature conditions for the mothers (thermoneutral and heat stress by continuous exposure to 32 °C) and two offspring ambient temperature conditions (thermoneutral and heat stress by intermittent exposure to 34 °C for 6 h/day from 15 to 35 days of age). Heat stress in mothers led to lower laying rate, egg mass, expression of methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MSRA) gene, and antioxidant capacity as well as higher chick mortality rate (1-15 days of age). Maternal heat stress led to lower weight gain and total antioxidant capacity and higher feed conversion ratio. Maternal temperature × Offspring temperature interaction effects were observed on carbonylated protein content and HSP70, GSS, and MSRA gene expression. It was observed that, for chicks hatched from heat-stressed mothers, exposure to heat stress led to higher carbonylated protein content and HSP70 expression than exposure to thermoneutral conditions. Maternal heat stress was also responsible for increasing GSS expression in chicks grown under thermoneutral conditions. Chicks hatched from non-stressed mothers and subjected to heat stress had higher MSRA expression compared to chicks maintained in a thermoneutral environment. Our results show that, although maternal heat stress had no negative effects on performance or oxidative metabolism of offspring grown under thermoneutral conditions, it was associated with lower performance and higher protein oxidation in offspring exposed to heat stress during growth. These results could be due in part to alterations in the expression of genes related to antioxidant capacity.

Project description:Heat stress is one of the most detrimental confrontations in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, causing considerable economic losses in poultry production. Propolis, a resinous product of worker honeybees, possesses several biological activities that could be used to alleviate the deleterious effects of high environmental temperature on poultry production. The current study was aimed at evaluating the effects of propolis supplementation to Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) diets on the production performance, intestinal histomorphology, relative physiological and immunological parameters, and selected gene expression under heat stress conditions. Three hundred one-day-old Japanese quail chicks were randomly distributed into 20 wired-cages. At 28 d of age, the birds were divided into 2 temperature treatment groups; a normal at 24°C (C group) and a heat stress at 35°C (HS group). The birds in each group were further assigned to 2 subgroups; one of them was fed on a basal diet without propolis supplementation (-Pr subgroup) while the other was supplemented with propolis (+Pr subgroup). Production performance including body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were measured. The intestinal histomorphological measurements were also performed for all treatment groups. Relative physiological parameters including body temperature, corticosterone hormone level, malondialdehyde (MDA) and free triiodothyronine hormone (fT3), as well as the relative immunological parameters including the total white blood cells count (TWBC's), heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L) ratio and lymphocyte proliferation index, were also measured. Furthermore, the mRNA expression for toll like receptor 5 (TLR5), cysteine-aspartic protease-6 (CASP6) and heat shock proteins 70 and 90 (Hsp70 and Hsp90) genes was quantified in this study. The quail production performance was significantly (P<0.05) impaired by HS treatment, while Pr treatment significantly improved the quail production performance. The villus width and area were significantly (P<0.05) lower in the HS compared to the C group, while Pr treatment significantly increased crypts depth of quail. A negative impact of HS treatment was observed on the physiological status of quail; however, propolis significantly alleviated this negative effect. Moreover, quail of the HS group expressed lower immunological parameters than C group, while propolis enhanced the immune status of the quail. The relative mRNA expression of TLR5 gene was down-regulated by HS treatment while it was up-regulated by the Pr treatment. Furthermore, the positive effects of propolis in HS-quail were evidenced by normalizing the high expressions of CASP6 and Hsp70 genes when compared to the C group. Based on these results, the addition of propolis to quail diets as a potential nutritional strategy in order to improve their performance, especially under heat stress conditions, is recommended.

Dataset Information

Post-hatch heat warms adult beaks: irreversible physiological plasticity in Japanese quail.

Publications

Post-hatch heat warms adult beaks: irreversible physiological plasticity in Japanese quail.

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