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Erythrocyte Lifespan in Dwarf and Normal Pullets from Growth Selected Lines of Chickens
1301
RESEARCH NOTES
revealed similar results. No assays for thiaminase were undertaken. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Appreciation is expressed to Drs. R. C. Bayer and H. C. Gibbs for their assistance. This study was supported by the University of Maine Life Science and Agriculture Experiment Station and Grant (S61-36099) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Blamberg, D. L., and D. C. O'Meara, 1973. Dehydrated scallop viscera, a potential component of poultry rations. Poultry Sci. 52: 1203-1205. Deutsch, H. F., and A. D. Hasler, 1943. Distribution of a vitamin B, destructive enzyme in fish. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 53: 63-65. Eijkman, G., 1896. Tijdschr. V. Nederland—Ind. 36: 214.
ERYTHROCYTE LIFESPAN IN DWARF AND NORMAL PULLETS FROM GROWTH SELECTED LINES OF CHICKENS P. R. K. REDDY, H. P. VAN KREY, W. B. GROSS AND P. B. SIEGEL
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 (Received for publication January 6, 1975)
ABSTRACT Mean erythrocyte lifespan was estimated, using a "Cr tagging procedure, in dwarf and normal sisters from lines selected for high and low body weight at eight weeks of age. Correlations between body weight, packed cell volume and erythrocyte lifespan were not significant. Significant differences were found among genotypes for body weight and packed cell volume, but not for lifespan of erythrocytes. POULTRY SCIENCE 54: 1301-1303, 1975
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
OMPARISONS of hematological parameters of dwarf and nondwarf chickens were reported by Wood et al. (1971). Recently, Reddy et al. (1975) observed differences in erythrocyte counts, pack cell volumes and hemoglobin content between dwarf and normal sisters in lines selected for high and low juvenile body weight. Reported here are comparisons of the lifespan of erythrocytes for dwarf and normal pullets from these growth selected lines.
The dwarf gene (dw) from a commercial meat line was introduced through mating Dwdw males to S 1 3 generation females from lines selected for high (HW) and low (LW) body weight at 8 weeks of age (Siegel, 1962, 1970). Repeated backcrossing of heterozygous males from such matings was made to S 1 4 , S 15 and S 16 generation pullets of each selected line. The 24 pullets used in this study consisted of 6 dwarfs and 6 of their normal sibs from the third backcross generation of
C
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kainan University on May 18, 2015
REFERENCES
Evans, C. A., W. E. Carlson and R. G. Green, 1942. The pathology of Chastek paralysis in foxes, a counterpart of Wernicke's hemorrhagic polioencephalitis of man. Am. J. Path, iii: 79-81. Green, R. G., 1936. Chastek paralysis—a new disease of foxes. Minnesota Wildlife Disease Investigation, 2: 106-107. Green, R. G., W. E. Carlson and C. A. Evans, 1942. The inactivation of vitamin B, in diets containing whole fish. J. Nutrition, 23: 165-174. Green, R. G., C. A. Evans and W. E. Carlson, 1937. A summary of Chastek paralysis studies. Minnesota Wildlife Disease Investigation, 3: 173-177. Neilands, J. B., 1947. Thiaminase in aquatic animals of Nova Scotia. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 7(2): 94-99. Sanford, P. E., 1949. Factors influencing the thiamine requirement of the chick. Doctoral thesis. Iowa State University. Smith, D. C , and L. M. Proutt, 1944. Development of thiamine deficiency in the cat on a diet of raw fish. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 56: 1-3. Wernicke, C , 1881. Lehrbuch der Gehirnkrankheiten fur Aerzte und Studierende. Theo der Fischer, Berlin.
1302
RESEARCH NOTES
Each blood sample was washed three times with six ml. of 0.85% saline solution to remove extracellular radioactivity. Gamma emission of 51 Cr was counted in a well-type solid scintillation counter with radioactivity expressed as counts/ml. of packed erythrocytes, corrected for the physical decay of 51 Cr (half life 26.5 days) by comparing with a standard solution of N a 2 5 1 C r 0 4 . The radioactivity of erythrocytes two hours after isotype injection was taken as 100%, and the subsequent activity determined at weekly intervals, was expressed as a percentage of the initial activity. The regression of radioactivity over weeks after injection was calculated for each group of birds with the interception of the regression line considered as the
lifespan of erythrocytes of a particular genotype.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION No significant correlations were observed among erythrocyte lifespan, packed cell volumes, and body weight. Body weights, as expected, were significantly different among all four genotypes. Packed cell volumes of normal pullets were significantly lower than those for dwarf pullets in both lines (Table 1). The lifespan of erythrocytes which ranged from 27.5 to 31.5 days was not significantly different among genotypes. These lifespans were similar to those reported by Rodnan et al. (1957) and Soliman and Huston (1972) who used similar procedures. Other experiments, using 32 P (Havesy and Ottesen, 1945) and glycine 15 N (Sherwin, 1948), also gave values within the range observed here. Radioactivity of erythrocytes declined progressively during the first four weeks following injection of 51 Cr, and no activity was detected by the end of five weeks. Although all of the regressions of the percentage decline in radioactivity of the erythrocytes over time were highly significant, none differed significantly from each other (Table 1). The lack of significant differences in the lifespans of erythrocytes in four genotypes suggests that genetic background influencing growth (polygenes and dw) did not effect the rate of
TABLE 1.—Body weight, packed cell volumes, and lifespan of erythrocytes in dwarfs and their normal sisters in growth selected lines of chickens
Genotype HW HW LW LW
normal dwarf normal dwarf
Body wt. (g-) 2508 a 1697b 1197° 665 d
Packed cell vol. (%) 32.4" 35.7 a 30. l b 37. l a
Lifespan of erythrocytes' (days) a
27.5 28.5 a 31.5 a 28.5 a
b ± se 2 -20.8a -20.9a -19.6a -21.la
± ± ± ±
2.8 1.5 1.4 1.5
Values within a column with the same superscript were not significantly different. 'The intercept with the abscissa was considered to represent the lifespan of erythrocytes in the particular genotype. 2 Regression of percentage radioactivity per week.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kainan University on May 18, 2015
each line. The birds were maintained in cages and fed a commercial ration. Individual body weights were obtained at the start of the experiment. Erythrocytes were labeled with 5 1 Cr by the procedure of Gray and Sterling (1950), as modified by Rodnan et al. (1957). A single dose of 400 mCi. of Na 2 51 C r 0 4 with a specific activity of 0.275 mCi./mg. was injected intravenously into the wing vein. One ml. of blood was taken from each bird by cardiac puncture two hours after injecting the isotope and at weekly intervals for five weeks thereafter. Each time blood was collected, packed cell volumes were determined by the microhematocrit method.
1303
RESEARCH NOTES
erythrocyte destruction in these populations. Therefore, although dwarfs may have a lower metabolic rate than normal chickens (Bernier and Arscott, 1972), the dw gene does not appear to have a significant effect on the intrinsic aging process and the rate of senescence of red blood cells. REFERENCES
THE LETHAL NATURE O F " W I R Y " MUTATION IN T H E DOMESTIC FOWL P . S. FISER, B . S. REINHART AND R. W . FAIRFULL
Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada (Received for publication January 17, 1975)
ABSTRACT A study of the effect of normal environmental conditions on newly hatched chicks with the feather mutant described as "wiry" (Fiser et al., 1973) was carried out. The results indicated that the abnormality should be classified as a potential facultative lethal expressed after hatching. POULTRY SCIENCE 54: 1303-1306, 1975
ERTAIN semilethal mutations affect the Cfeather structure of domestic fowl. Unless a special environment is provided, the affected chicks cannot survive because of the extreme drop in body temperature due to sparce insulation usually provided by the down feathers or in some instances the complete nakedness of the chick (Hutt and Sturkie, 1938). A semilethal effect was described in the mutations referred to as frizzling (Hutt, 1930) and flightless (Warren, 1937). The mutation affecting the structure of down feathers as well as the structure of the adult feathering named "wiry" was
classified as a condition caused by a single recessive autosomal gene (Fiser et al., 1973). MATERIAL AND METHODS Homozygous birds (w w) were obtained from matings of carriers inter se. The affected individuals had to be kept in a battery with temperature raised to 37° C. for the first two weeks. When they acquired juvenile and adult feathering they did not require a special heated environment. Affected chicks for the experiment were obtained by breeding affected birds (w w) inter se and the heterozy-
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kainan University on May 18, 2015
Bernier, P. E., and G. H. Arscott, 1972. Fifteen years of observation on the dwarf gene in the domestic fowl. Ann. Genet. Sel. Anim. 4: 183-215. Gray, S. J., and K. Sterling, 1950. The tagging of red cells and plasma proteins with radioactive chromium. J. Cli. Invest. 29: 1604-1615. Havesy, G., and J. Ottesen, 1945. Lifespan of red blood corpuscles of the hen. Nature, 156: 534. Reddy, P. R. K., W. B. Gross, H. P. Van Krey and P. B. Siegel, 1975. Blood parameters of dwarf and normal pullets from growth selected lines before
and after E. coli challenge. Poultry Sci. 54: 674-681. Rodnan, G. P., F. G. Ebaugh, Jr. and M. R. S. Fox, 1957. The lifespan of the red blood cell and red blood cell volume in the chicken, pigeon and duck as estimated by the use of Na 2 "Cr0 4 blood. Blood, 12: 355-366. Sherwin, D., 1948. The biosynthesis of parphyrins. Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology, 13: 185-192. Siegel, P. B., 1962. Selection for body weight at eight weeks of age 1. Short-term responses and heritabilities. Poultry Sci. 44: 1530-1536. Siegel, P. B., 1970. Selection for juvenile body weight in chickens. Pro. 14th World Poultry Sci. Conf. Madrid. Genetica y Reproduction, 2: 465-471. Soliman, K. F. A., and T. M. Huston, 1972. Effect of environmental temperature on the lifespan of red blood cells in domestic fowl. Poultry Sci. 51: 1198-1201. Wood, A. S., B. S. Reinhart, G. Rejaratnam and J. D. Summers, 1971. A comparison of the blood constituents of dwarf versus non-dwarf birds. Poultry Sci. 50: 804-807.
RESEARCH NOTES
revealed similar results. No assays for thiaminase were undertaken. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Appreciation is expressed to Drs. R. C. Bayer and H. C. Gibbs for their assistance. This study was supported by the University of Maine Life Science and Agriculture Experiment Station and Grant (S61-36099) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Blamberg, D. L., and D. C. O'Meara, 1973. Dehydrated scallop viscera, a potential component of poultry rations. Poultry Sci. 52: 1203-1205. Deutsch, H. F., and A. D. Hasler, 1943. Distribution of a vitamin B, destructive enzyme in fish. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 53: 63-65. Eijkman, G., 1896. Tijdschr. V. Nederland—Ind. 36: 214.
ERYTHROCYTE LIFESPAN IN DWARF AND NORMAL PULLETS FROM GROWTH SELECTED LINES OF CHICKENS P. R. K. REDDY, H. P. VAN KREY, W. B. GROSS AND P. B. SIEGEL
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 (Received for publication January 6, 1975)
ABSTRACT Mean erythrocyte lifespan was estimated, using a "Cr tagging procedure, in dwarf and normal sisters from lines selected for high and low body weight at eight weeks of age. Correlations between body weight, packed cell volume and erythrocyte lifespan were not significant. Significant differences were found among genotypes for body weight and packed cell volume, but not for lifespan of erythrocytes. POULTRY SCIENCE 54: 1301-1303, 1975
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
OMPARISONS of hematological parameters of dwarf and nondwarf chickens were reported by Wood et al. (1971). Recently, Reddy et al. (1975) observed differences in erythrocyte counts, pack cell volumes and hemoglobin content between dwarf and normal sisters in lines selected for high and low juvenile body weight. Reported here are comparisons of the lifespan of erythrocytes for dwarf and normal pullets from these growth selected lines.
The dwarf gene (dw) from a commercial meat line was introduced through mating Dwdw males to S 1 3 generation females from lines selected for high (HW) and low (LW) body weight at 8 weeks of age (Siegel, 1962, 1970). Repeated backcrossing of heterozygous males from such matings was made to S 1 4 , S 15 and S 16 generation pullets of each selected line. The 24 pullets used in this study consisted of 6 dwarfs and 6 of their normal sibs from the third backcross generation of
C
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kainan University on May 18, 2015
REFERENCES
Evans, C. A., W. E. Carlson and R. G. Green, 1942. The pathology of Chastek paralysis in foxes, a counterpart of Wernicke's hemorrhagic polioencephalitis of man. Am. J. Path, iii: 79-81. Green, R. G., 1936. Chastek paralysis—a new disease of foxes. Minnesota Wildlife Disease Investigation, 2: 106-107. Green, R. G., W. E. Carlson and C. A. Evans, 1942. The inactivation of vitamin B, in diets containing whole fish. J. Nutrition, 23: 165-174. Green, R. G., C. A. Evans and W. E. Carlson, 1937. A summary of Chastek paralysis studies. Minnesota Wildlife Disease Investigation, 3: 173-177. Neilands, J. B., 1947. Thiaminase in aquatic animals of Nova Scotia. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 7(2): 94-99. Sanford, P. E., 1949. Factors influencing the thiamine requirement of the chick. Doctoral thesis. Iowa State University. Smith, D. C , and L. M. Proutt, 1944. Development of thiamine deficiency in the cat on a diet of raw fish. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 56: 1-3. Wernicke, C , 1881. Lehrbuch der Gehirnkrankheiten fur Aerzte und Studierende. Theo der Fischer, Berlin.
1302
RESEARCH NOTES
Each blood sample was washed three times with six ml. of 0.85% saline solution to remove extracellular radioactivity. Gamma emission of 51 Cr was counted in a well-type solid scintillation counter with radioactivity expressed as counts/ml. of packed erythrocytes, corrected for the physical decay of 51 Cr (half life 26.5 days) by comparing with a standard solution of N a 2 5 1 C r 0 4 . The radioactivity of erythrocytes two hours after isotype injection was taken as 100%, and the subsequent activity determined at weekly intervals, was expressed as a percentage of the initial activity. The regression of radioactivity over weeks after injection was calculated for each group of birds with the interception of the regression line considered as the
lifespan of erythrocytes of a particular genotype.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION No significant correlations were observed among erythrocyte lifespan, packed cell volumes, and body weight. Body weights, as expected, were significantly different among all four genotypes. Packed cell volumes of normal pullets were significantly lower than those for dwarf pullets in both lines (Table 1). The lifespan of erythrocytes which ranged from 27.5 to 31.5 days was not significantly different among genotypes. These lifespans were similar to those reported by Rodnan et al. (1957) and Soliman and Huston (1972) who used similar procedures. Other experiments, using 32 P (Havesy and Ottesen, 1945) and glycine 15 N (Sherwin, 1948), also gave values within the range observed here. Radioactivity of erythrocytes declined progressively during the first four weeks following injection of 51 Cr, and no activity was detected by the end of five weeks. Although all of the regressions of the percentage decline in radioactivity of the erythrocytes over time were highly significant, none differed significantly from each other (Table 1). The lack of significant differences in the lifespans of erythrocytes in four genotypes suggests that genetic background influencing growth (polygenes and dw) did not effect the rate of
TABLE 1.—Body weight, packed cell volumes, and lifespan of erythrocytes in dwarfs and their normal sisters in growth selected lines of chickens
Genotype HW HW LW LW
normal dwarf normal dwarf
Body wt. (g-) 2508 a 1697b 1197° 665 d
Packed cell vol. (%) 32.4" 35.7 a 30. l b 37. l a
Lifespan of erythrocytes' (days) a
27.5 28.5 a 31.5 a 28.5 a
b ± se 2 -20.8a -20.9a -19.6a -21.la
± ± ± ±
2.8 1.5 1.4 1.5
Values within a column with the same superscript were not significantly different. 'The intercept with the abscissa was considered to represent the lifespan of erythrocytes in the particular genotype. 2 Regression of percentage radioactivity per week.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kainan University on May 18, 2015
each line. The birds were maintained in cages and fed a commercial ration. Individual body weights were obtained at the start of the experiment. Erythrocytes were labeled with 5 1 Cr by the procedure of Gray and Sterling (1950), as modified by Rodnan et al. (1957). A single dose of 400 mCi. of Na 2 51 C r 0 4 with a specific activity of 0.275 mCi./mg. was injected intravenously into the wing vein. One ml. of blood was taken from each bird by cardiac puncture two hours after injecting the isotope and at weekly intervals for five weeks thereafter. Each time blood was collected, packed cell volumes were determined by the microhematocrit method.
1303
RESEARCH NOTES
erythrocyte destruction in these populations. Therefore, although dwarfs may have a lower metabolic rate than normal chickens (Bernier and Arscott, 1972), the dw gene does not appear to have a significant effect on the intrinsic aging process and the rate of senescence of red blood cells. REFERENCES
THE LETHAL NATURE O F " W I R Y " MUTATION IN T H E DOMESTIC FOWL P . S. FISER, B . S. REINHART AND R. W . FAIRFULL
Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada (Received for publication January 17, 1975)
ABSTRACT A study of the effect of normal environmental conditions on newly hatched chicks with the feather mutant described as "wiry" (Fiser et al., 1973) was carried out. The results indicated that the abnormality should be classified as a potential facultative lethal expressed after hatching. POULTRY SCIENCE 54: 1303-1306, 1975
ERTAIN semilethal mutations affect the Cfeather structure of domestic fowl. Unless a special environment is provided, the affected chicks cannot survive because of the extreme drop in body temperature due to sparce insulation usually provided by the down feathers or in some instances the complete nakedness of the chick (Hutt and Sturkie, 1938). A semilethal effect was described in the mutations referred to as frizzling (Hutt, 1930) and flightless (Warren, 1937). The mutation affecting the structure of down feathers as well as the structure of the adult feathering named "wiry" was
classified as a condition caused by a single recessive autosomal gene (Fiser et al., 1973). MATERIAL AND METHODS Homozygous birds (w w) were obtained from matings of carriers inter se. The affected individuals had to be kept in a battery with temperature raised to 37° C. for the first two weeks. When they acquired juvenile and adult feathering they did not require a special heated environment. Affected chicks for the experiment were obtained by breeding affected birds (w w) inter se and the heterozy-
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kainan University on May 18, 2015
Bernier, P. E., and G. H. Arscott, 1972. Fifteen years of observation on the dwarf gene in the domestic fowl. Ann. Genet. Sel. Anim. 4: 183-215. Gray, S. J., and K. Sterling, 1950. The tagging of red cells and plasma proteins with radioactive chromium. J. Cli. Invest. 29: 1604-1615. Havesy, G., and J. Ottesen, 1945. Lifespan of red blood corpuscles of the hen. Nature, 156: 534. Reddy, P. R. K., W. B. Gross, H. P. Van Krey and P. B. Siegel, 1975. Blood parameters of dwarf and normal pullets from growth selected lines before
and after E. coli challenge. Poultry Sci. 54: 674-681. Rodnan, G. P., F. G. Ebaugh, Jr. and M. R. S. Fox, 1957. The lifespan of the red blood cell and red blood cell volume in the chicken, pigeon and duck as estimated by the use of Na 2 "Cr0 4 blood. Blood, 12: 355-366. Sherwin, D., 1948. The biosynthesis of parphyrins. Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology, 13: 185-192. Siegel, P. B., 1962. Selection for body weight at eight weeks of age 1. Short-term responses and heritabilities. Poultry Sci. 44: 1530-1536. Siegel, P. B., 1970. Selection for juvenile body weight in chickens. Pro. 14th World Poultry Sci. Conf. Madrid. Genetica y Reproduction, 2: 465-471. Soliman, K. F. A., and T. M. Huston, 1972. Effect of environmental temperature on the lifespan of red blood cells in domestic fowl. Poultry Sci. 51: 1198-1201. Wood, A. S., B. S. Reinhart, G. Rejaratnam and J. D. Summers, 1971. A comparison of the blood constituents of dwarf versus non-dwarf birds. Poultry Sci. 50: 804-807.