Simple Culture System for Bobwhite Quail and Japanese Quail Embryos from the Blastoderm Stage to Hatching using a Single Surrogate Eggshell

Abstract

The ex vivo culture of avian embryos is a technique for the long-term culturing of embryos outside of their own shell and shell membrane. It allows easy access to the developing embryos and embryo manipulation. The two-step system is widely applied when the culture is performed after oviposition. Japanese quail as well as bobwhite quail are used as models for avian safety assessment as recommended by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines. However, biological studies on the bobwhite quail have been more limited than those on the Japanese quail. We have developed a more simplified ex vivo culture protocol for the two species of quail embryos from the blastoderm stage through to hatching using a single surrogate eggshell. Hatchabilities of 31% and 27% were obtained in bobwhite quail and Japanese quail embryos, respectively. The simple system described in the present study is an easy and acceptable procedure.Key words: bobwhite quail, culture, embryo, Japanese quail, New World quail, Old World quail J. Poult. Sci., 51: 202-205, 2014 IntroductionThe ex vivo culture of avian embryos is a technique used for the long-term culturing of embryos outside of their own shell and shell membrane. In contrast to shell windowing techniques, the ex vivo culture allows easy access to the developing embryos and embryo manipulation. Avian embryos are subjected to various environmental conditions in the course of normal development. For example, development takes place on the first day in the oviduct of the chicken embryo where egg formation is completed by the deposition of albumen, uterine fluid, chalaza, shell membrane, and shell; for the next 21 days, the enveloping layers act as a buffer between the embryo and egg's environment (Perry, 1988). Current technologies now permit the culture of chicken and Japanese quail embryos from the single-cell stage, which is normally in the oviduct, through to hatching (Perry, 1988;Naito et al., 1990;Ono et al., 1994).Chicken development is divided into three periods for the purpose of the ex vivo culture: fertilization to blastoderm formation lasts for 1 day, embryogenesis for 3 days, and embryonic growth for 18 days (Perry and Mather, 1991). Cultures are divided into three steps, corresponding to these three periods, respectively. The two-step system is widely applied when the culture is performed after oviposition.Quail are divided phylogenetically into two groups, Old World quail such as the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) and New World quail such as the bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) (Silbley and Monroe, 1990). Both Japanese quail and bobwhite quail are used as models for avian safety assessment as recommended by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines (OECD, 2010). However, biological studies on the bobwhite quail have been more limited than those on the Japanese quail.One of the advantages of avian embryos for the experimental analysis of developmental events is the relative ease with which they can b...

Energetic basis for bird ontogeny and egg-laying applied to the bobwhite quail

“…The predicted age at hatch of around 20 days matches the average incubation duration of 23 days at 37.5 \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} }{}$^{\circ }$\end{document} C–38.5 \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} }{}$^{\circ }$\end{document} C ( Green & Vince, 1973 , Kato et al , 2013 , 2014 , Reyna, 2019 , Reyna & Burggren, 2017 , Walter & Voitle, 1973 ). Predicted wet weight at hatch of 6.7 g is only 3.5% larger compared with the data used for parameterizing the model (Table 3 ) and is close to the average hatching mass (6–6.5 g; Brennan et al , 2020 , Walter & Voitle, 1973 ).…”