1988/07/01 by M. Schumacher, Michaël Schumacher, J. Sulon +2 · 9 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Animal Nutrition and Physiology #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Plant Reproductive Biology
paper · doi:10.1677/joe.0.1180127
Serum concentrations of testosterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone, oestradiol and progesterone were measured by radioimmunoassay combined with Celite chromatography in male and female Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) during the second half of embryonic life (days 9-17 of incubation) and during the first 5 weeks after hatching. The mean level of each of the four steroids was significantly affected by the age of the birds. An overall effect of sex was detected by analysis of variance only on oestradiol concentrations, with females having higher serum concentrations than males during most of the age range studied. Significant peaks of testosterone and progesterone were also detected around hatching time. These results are consistent with the view that oestradiol is the major hormone implicated in the sexual differentiation of reproductive behaviour in the quail. The relationships between the circulating concentrations of oestradiol during ontogeny and the critical period of differentiation as postulated by currently accepted models is also discussed.