• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.314-329
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• 2024

Fifteen cyclic dipeptides (CDPs) containing proline, one cyclo(Phe-Ala) without proline, and a non-peptidyl ᴅⳑ-3-phenyllactic acid were previously identified in the culture filtrates of Lactobacillus plantarum LBP-K10, an isolate from kimchi. In this study, we used Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) eggs to examine the effects of probiotic supplementation on the antimicrobial CDPs extracted from quail eggs (QE). Eggshell-free QE were obtained from two distinct groups of quails. The first group (K10N) comprised eggs from unsupplemented quails. The second group (K10S) comprised eggs from quails supplemented with Lb. plantarum LBP-K10. The QE samples were extracted using methylene chloride through a liquid-liquid extraction process. The resulting extract was fractionated into 16 parts using semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography. Two fractions, Q6 and Q9, were isolated from K10S and identified as cis-cyclo(ⳑ-Ser-ⳑ-Pro) and cis-cyclo(ⳑ-Leu-ⳑ-Pro). The Q9 fraction, containing cis-cyclo(ⳑ-Leu-ⳑ-Pro), has shown significant inhibitory properties against the proliferation of highly pathogenic multidrug-resistant bacteria, as well as human-specific and phytopathogenic fungi. Some of the ten combinations between the remaining fourteen unidentified fractions and two fractions, Q6 and Q9, containing cis-cyclo(ⳑ-Ser-ⳑ-Pro) and cis-cyclo(ⳑ-Leu-ⳑ-Pro) respectively, demonstrated a significant increase in activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria only when combined with Q9. The activity was 7.17 times higher compared to a single cis-cyclo(ⳑ-Leu-ⳑ-Pro). This study presents new findings on the efficacy of proline-containing CDPs in avian eggs. These CDPs provide antimicrobial properties when specific probiotics are supplemented.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.258-260
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• 2002

We investigated the interaction of serotonin and galanin (GA) by a double immunostaining method in the Japanese quail. Serotonin-immunoreactive (IR) cells were located in the paraventricular organ (PVO) and infundibular nucleus (IF). The number of the cells under short-day photoperiod (SD) was less in the dark phase than in the light phase. GA-IR cells were found in the PVO, IF and median eminence. The number of GA-IR cells in SD was significantly greater than that in long-day photoperiod (LD). Numerous GA- IR varicose fibers ran along serotonin- IR cell bodies and nerve fibers in the PVO and IF of the same sections. Very few serotonin-IR fibers ran along GA-IR cell bodies and GA-IR nerve fibers in the ventral part of the IF. The present results suggest that the possibility of functional interaction takes place between serotonin- and GA- IR neurons in the PVO and IF.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.376-380
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• 1999

The purpose of this experiment was to study the effect of feeding winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) oil on egg cholesterol and fatty acid of Japanese quail. Four groups of 10-week-old Japanese quails (n=10 per group) were fed a basal diet (20% CP, 2890 kcal/kg) supplemented with 5% of either animal tallow, soybean oil, corn oil or winged bean oil over an 8-week period. At the end of the experiment, 7 birds in each treatment were killed by decapitation. Blood samples and livers were collected for cholesterol analyses. There were no significant differences in final body weight, feed intake, egg production, egg and yolk weight due to the different oil treatments. Egg and plasma cholesterol levels obtained with the winged bean oil diet were higher than those obtained with the animal tallow or soybean oil diets, but were not significantly different from those obtained with com oil diet. Egg lipid, liver lipid and liver cholesterol content was lower with the winged bean oil diet than with the animal tallow diet. It may be concluded that the winged bean oil diet did not impair laying performance, but increased egg and plasma cholesterol levels compared with soybean oil or animal tallow diets. Winged bean oil diet produced eggs with a higher oleic content and lower linoleic content compared with the soybean or com oil diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.1304-1307
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• 2001

The laying performance of Japanese quails fed graded levels of high glucosinolate ($92.5{\mu}mole/g$) rapeseed meal (RSM) was assessed. One hundred and twenty Japanese quails aged 1 day-old were assigned at random to four dietary treatments consisting of 0, 50, 75 or 100 g/kg RSM in the diet replacing part of the soybean meal and de-oiled rice bran in a standard quail ration. 12 female representative quails from each diet were selected at random and housed in individual cages from 7-20 wk of age. The egg production, feed intake and FCR was comparable among the different dietary groups. The egg quality characteristics, organoleptic evaluation of boiled eggs as well as the haematological (haemoglobin, total erythrocyte count, total leucocyte count) and biochemical (glucose, protein, cholesterol, aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase and alkaline phosphatase) constituents did not differ significantly among the groups. The gross and histopathological studies of vital organs did not reveal any appreciable changes. The feed cost was reduced by the incorporation of RSM in the diet, but only the production cost of quails fed the 75 g/kg RSM was lower in comparison to other groups. In the present study, the laying potential of Japanese quail was well-maintained up to the 100g/kg dietary level of rapeseed meal.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.217-221
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• 1994

In avian species, addition of aspirin to the diet was shown to improve the egg production and to elevate the proportion of essential fatty acid contents in several body tissues. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary aspirin on the accumulation of essential fatty acids in egg yolk. Laying Japanese quail at 170 days of age were fed practical diets supplemented with graded levels (0, 0.4 and 0.8%) of aspirin for 2 weeks. There were no significant differences in final body weight and liver weight. Food intake and egg weight on the 0.8% aspirin diet were significantly lower than those on the 0 or 0.4% aspirin diet. In the liver and egg yolk lipids, the 16:0 in birds fed the 0.8% aspirin diet was significantly higher than that in birds fed the aspirin-free diet. However, the proportion of n-6 poly-unsaturated fatty acids was not affected by feeding aspirin diets.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.207-213
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• 2012

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of various levels of dietary protein on laying performance and egg quality in laying quail. A total of six hundred forty 7-week-old laying type Japanese quail were divided into four groups with eight replicates per group (20 birds per replicate) and fed four diets differing in dietary protein levels (18, 20, 22 and 24%) with isocaloric corn-soybean meal-based diets for 8 weeks. The results showed no significant differences in feed intake and egg weight among the groups. With an increase in dietary protein levels, the egg production and daily egg mass were linearly increased (P<0.05). However, there were no significant differences in eggshell thickness and Haugh unit. The dietary protein did not affect the blood levels of GOT, GPT, BUN, albumin, and creatinine. The ammonia concentration of intestinal digesta was not affected by the dietary treatments. The contents of hepatic triacylglycerol in the groups fed diets containing 20% protein or more were significantly reduced as compared with that of 18% CP group (P<0.05). Overall, this study showed that relatively high levels of dietary CP are needed to sustain the higher egg production and daily egg mass and to avoid the hepatic triacylglycerol accumulation in Japanese quail.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.47-53
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• 1980

This study was carried out to investigate the variations in the thickness of egg shell and egg shell membrane of Quail eggs from July 25, 1978 to September 7, 1978. No. of eggs used in this experiment was 520 okay and all the eggs were purchased from a farm located in Jinju city. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. Egg shells of quail were classified as white egg shell with large spots, egg shell with large spots, violet egg shell with small spots and beige egg shell with small spots by the exterior shell colour and their average egg weights were 8.993g, 8.866g, 8.403g and 8.109g, respectively. 2. Average egg shell thickness of white egg shell with large spots, egg. shell with large spots, violet egg shell with small spots and beige on shell with small spots were 0.171mm, 0.169mm, 0.160mm, and 0.156mm, respectively. 3. Average eggs shell membrane of white egg shell with large spots, egg shell with large spots, violet egg shell with small spots and beige egg shell with small spots were 0.0449mm, 0.0431mm, 0.0398mm, and 0.0397mm, respectively. 4. Negative correlation coefficient was found between egg shell thickness ana egg shell membrane thickness, but it was not significant. 5. Comparing quail egg with fowl egg, the thickness of quail egg shell was much thinner than that of fowl egg, but egg shell membrane thickness was similar between the two.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.1452-1462
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• 2024

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with Agaricus blazei polysaccharide (ABP) at varying concentrations on the performance, egg quality, blood biochemistry, intestinal morphology, and microflora of quail. Methods: The study involved a total of 2,700 Korean quails, which were randomly divided into three groups. The measured variables encompassed productive performance, egg parameters, carcass parameters, serum metabolites, immune response parameters, antioxidative properties, and gut microbiome. Results: The addition of ABP did not have a significant effect on average daily feed intake. However, it was found to increase the average daily egg weight and egg production rate, reduce the feed-egg ratio. There were no significant impacts on egg quality measures such as egg shape index, egg yolk index and color, egg yolk and protein content. However, ABP supplementation significantly increased the Hough unit (p<0.01) and decreased the rate of unqualified eggs (p<0.01). Regarding serum parameters, the inclusion led to an increase in total protein concentration (p<0.05) and a reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p<0.05). There were no significant effects observed on immune indicators such as immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgM. ABP supplementation increased the levels of serum antioxidant indicators, including glutathione peroxidase, total superoxide dismutase (p<0.05), and total antioxidant capacity colorimeter (p<0.05). Furthermore, ABP supplementation significantly elevated the intramuscular fatty acid content in quail meat. Additionally, ABP supplementation demonstrated a significant improvement in the diversity of gut microbiota and induced alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that dietary supplementation of ABP enhanced production performance and antioxidant capacity while increasing the levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids in quail muscle.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.139-143
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• 2010

Quail is a very useful animal model for studying vertebrate development because of its small body size and unique reproductive traits. This species is also ideal model for producing germline chimeras via transferring exogenous primordial germ cells (PGCs) into the recipient embryo. To increase the contribution efficiency of donor PGCs into recipients' tissues, decreasing the population of endogenous PGCs has been rate-limiting factor. We therefore conducted this study to investigate if gamma ($\gamma$)-irradiation depletes endogenous PGCs in developing quail embryo. Firstly, freshly laid stage X quail embryos were irradiated with various output of $\gamma$-irradiation and its teratogenic effect on the embryo was evaluated. Although a dose-dependent increase in the number of embryo showing malformation was found as the output increased (0, 250, 500, 750, and 1,000 rads), only a maximum of 10.1% of embryos were abnormal in 1,000 rads. Immunocytochemical analysis using the QCR1 antibody, which is specific marker for quail PGCs, was conducted to analyze the effect of sterilization. As results, $\gamma$-rays at a dose-rate of 500 rads/73 sec onto undeveloped stage X embryo significantly reduced the number of germ cells to an average of 75.55 % and 82.03 % in male and female embryos, respectively. We conclude that $\gamma$-ray selectively targets PGCs while affects minimally to the somatic development in quail embryo. Our results will not only provide important data for germline chimera production but can be used for analyzing the effect of ionized rays on the differentiating germ cells in various stages during animal development.

• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.4-5
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• 2009