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Calcium Binding Protein in the Turkey and in the Japanese Quail

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M A Mussler
M A Mussler
M A Mussler
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WAYNE L. BACON
WAYNE L. BACON
WAYNE L. BACON
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KARL E. NESTOR
KARL E. NESTOR
KARL E. NESTOR
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Abstract

Detection of immunologically similar calcium binding proteins (CaBP) in the duodenum and the uterus of both laying turkey hens and laying Japanese quail by a 45 Ca binding assay yielded results highly correlated with the actual concentration of CaBP measured by radial immunodiffusion. Levels of duodenal CaBP in laying turkeys maintained on normal laying hen rations are lower than those found in hens just starting egg production and than laying hens fed a Ca-restricted diet for one month.
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RESEARCH NOTES
Calcium Binding Protein in the Turkey and in the Japanese Quail1
MARGERY A. MUSSER, WAYNE L. BACON and KARL E. NESTOR
Department of Poultry
Science,
Ohio Agricultural Research
and
Development
Center,
Wooster,
Ohio
44691
(Received for publication December 20, 1976)
ABSTRACT Detection of immunologically similar calcium binding proteins (CaBP) in the
duodenum and the uterus of both laying turkey hens and laying Japanese quail by a 45 Ca binding
assay yielded results highly correlated with the actual concentration of CaBP measured by radial
immunodiffusion. Levels of duodenal CaBP in laying turkeys maintained on normal laying hen
rations are lower than those found in hens just starting egg production and than laying hens fed a
Ca'restricted diet for one month.
Poultry Science 56:1657-1658, 1977
INTRODUCTION
In 44 week old turkeys ready to start egg
production, calcium binding assay data show a
pattern of rising duodenal activity starting one
week before the first egg but no activity in the
uterus until the first egg is being calcified
(Musser et al., 1974). The duodenal levels peak
in the first week of production and then slowly
decline. By four weeks the duodenal levels are
about one half of the peak levels, and the
uterine levels have declined. This parallels the
pattern found in the chicken by Bar and
Hurwitz(1973).
Mean levels of quail duodenal CaBP reported
by Bar et al. (1976) are slightly higher than the
CaBP levels found in the turkey poult by Musser
etal. (1976).
In this experiment both the level of calcium
binding and the concentration of CaBP as
measured by radial immunoassay were mea-
sured in homogenates from the duodenum and
uterus of 14 mature laying turkey hens and
some mature laying quail.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Turkey hens sampled at the start of egg
production were 44 weeks of age and under 14
hours of light per day in floor pens. Both
medium and large white strains were repre-
sented.
All mature turkey hens were housed in
1 Approved for publication as Journal Article No.
203-76 of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Devel-
opment Center, Wooster, Ohio
44691.
individual cages under 14 hours of light per
day. The 14 hens in which CaBP levels were
measured had been in production for 6 months.
The quail were mature layers which had
been in production for 18—19 weeks. Uterine
material from three hens in the same stage of
egg formation were pooled to get samples of
sufficient size.
Birds were fed practical turkey breeder diets
except for the calcium-restricted hens which
were fed a diet with approximately 1% Ca and
0.75%
total P.
Assay samples were heat-treated superna-
tants of mucosal cell homogenates. The chelex
calcium binding assay for activity and the radial
immunodiffusion assay for CaBP were de-
scribed previously (Musser et al., 1977).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In Table 1 the mean results of binding
activity and CaBP concentration are presented
as well as the correlation coefficients between
these measures. The duodenal concentration is
about twice as high as that found in the one
month old poults fed a diet adequate in vitamin
D3
(Musser et al., 1976). The uterine binding
level is probably lower than would be found in
hens in full egg production; 3 out of 13 samples
showed no activity. Egg production was spo-
radic,
probably due to the lateness in the laying
season. Normally a laying season of 18—20
weeks would be expected of these turkeys. Also
some of these hens were poor shell formers. No
binding activity could be found in isthmus or
magnum samples. The highly significant correla-
tions indicate that the binding assay data
1657
1658 M. A. MUSSER, W. L. BACON AND K. E. NESTOR
TABLE
1 .—Mean
levels of binding activity and CaBP in laying turkey hens after 6 months in
production and correlation coefficients between these measurements
Tissue
% Binding/
mg. protein
Mg-
CaBP/ml.
Correlation
coefficient
Duodenum
Uterus
1.90
±
0.25
0.35 ±0.13
489 ± 51
65.4 ± 10
0.84**
0.94**
'Significant (P<0.01).
TABLE 2.—Correlation coefficients of calcium binding activity (% binding/mg. protein) in turkey
duodenal and uterine samples with number of total and normal eggs laid
within various time periods prior to sampling
Sample
Number
of eggs
Correlation coefficients
Production period prior to binding assay
6
months
30
days
7
days
Duodenum
Uterus
Total
Normal
Total
Normal
.01
.42
.03
.25
.22
.51
.33
.61*
.12
.10
.47
.31
•Significant (P<0.05).
represent the actual amount of CaBP present.
Correlations between egg production for the
periods of 7 days, 30 days and 6 months prior
to sampling and percent binding activity are
presented in Table 2. Only the correlation
between normal eggs (as defined in Nestor and
Bacon, 1972) laid in a 30 day period and
uterine binding activity was significant (P<.05).
It appears that long term production of normal
eggs is much more highly correlated with
binding activity than production of total eggs.
Laying hens maintained on a 1 percent
calcium diet for one month had an increased
duodenal CaBP concentration in comparison
with hens fed a normal laying diet. This is
comparable to the response in chickens re-
ported by Bar and Hurwitz (1973). The few
uterine samples analyzed for binding activity
had levels comparable to those of hens fed a
normal diet.
The uterine homogenate samples from quail
reacted with rabbit anti-turkey CaBP forming a
precipitin line that was continuous with that of
turkey duodenal material. Binding activity lev-
els averaged 1.1 ± .08 %/mg. protein. No
difference was found between calcifying and
inactive uterus samples as was found by Bar et
al. (1976). This may be due to the small sample
size in this study.
A pooled duodenal material from one month
old poults raised entirely on a vitamin D3-defi-
cient practical diet (all plant material) and
having symptoms of rickets showed no reaction
with the antiserum mentioned above. Poults
receiving adequate dietary vitamin D show a
strong reaction (Musser et al., 1977).
REFERENCES
Bar, A., D. Dubrou, U. Eisner and S. Hurwitz, 1976.
Calcium-binding protein and calcium absorption in
the laying quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).
Poultry Sci. 55:622-628.
Bar, A. and S. Hurwitz, 1973. Calcium restriction and
intestinal calcium-binding protein in the laying
fowl. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 45A:571—577.
Musser, M. A., A. H. Cantor and W. L. Bacon, 1977.
Intestinal calcium binding protein levels in the one
month old turkey poult. Poultry Sci. 56:1440—
1442.
Musser, M. A., K. E. Nestor and W. L. Bacon, 1974.
Calcium-binding protein in the turkey hen. Ohio
Agricultural Research and Development Research
Summary, 80:106-108.
Nestor, K. E., and W. L. Bacon, 1972. Production of
defective eggs by egg and meat type turkey hens.
Poultry Sci. 51:1361-1365.
... These characteristics, together with the high reproduction rate of the domestic hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) and its economic importance, made this species the commonest model for studying shell formation. Other domesticated, or semi-domesticated, species, such as the duck (Anas platyrhynchos) (Benoit and Clavert, 1944;Lundholm, 1991), 2 turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) (Musser et al., 1977), ostrich (Struthio camelus) (Holm et al., 2000), or Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica), (Bar et al., 1976a,b;Kenny, 1976;Musser et al., 1977;Striem and Bar, 1991;Holm et al., 2001) have also been extensively studied. Among these species the quail appears to be the most similar to the domestic hen with regard to productivity, egg cycle length, shell formation, calcium homeostasis, and cholecalciferol (vitamin D 3 ) metabolism and expression (Tables 1 and 2), but not with regard to ovulation time. ...
... These characteristics, together with the high reproduction rate of the domestic hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) and its economic importance, made this species the commonest model for studying shell formation. Other domesticated, or semi-domesticated, species, such as the duck (Anas platyrhynchos) (Benoit and Clavert, 1944;Lundholm, 1991), 2 turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) (Musser et al., 1977), ostrich (Struthio camelus) (Holm et al., 2000), or Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica), (Bar et al., 1976a,b;Kenny, 1976;Musser et al., 1977;Striem and Bar, 1991;Holm et al., 2001) have also been extensively studied. Among these species the quail appears to be the most similar to the domestic hen with regard to productivity, egg cycle length, shell formation, calcium homeostasis, and cholecalciferol (vitamin D 3 ) metabolism and expression (Tables 1 and 2), but not with regard to ovulation time. ...
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Calcium-binding protein in the turkey hen. Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Research Summary
  • Jan 1974
  • 106-108
  • M A Musser
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Musser, M. A., K. E. Nestor and W. L. Bacon, 1974. Calcium-binding protein in the turkey hen. Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Research Summary, 80:106-108.