Forty captive Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), of both sexes, were separated into five groups and dosed with lead shot via oral intubation; one group was used as a control. Lead dosage differed in terms of shot number and size, as well as administration time. One hundred and thirty-five wild mallards were trapped between 1998 and 2001 in the Boada and Nava lagoons near the Canal de Castilla, in t...

We have examined the protease susceptibility of aortic myosin, the thermal unfolding profiles of myosin rod and light meromyosin (LMM) and the solubility properties of the LMM fragments. Two major protease-susceptible sites were found, located at the head-rod junction and the heavy meromyosin (HMM)-LMM junction. Both tryptic and chymotryptic digestion of aortic myosin rod produced the LMM (80-8...

During embryogenesis, smooth muscle cells of the gut differentiate from mesenchymal cells derived from splanchnic mesoderm. We have isolated a gene involved in the differentiation of smooth muscle cells in the gut using differential display between the chicken proventriculus in which the smooth muscle layer develops poorly and the gizzard in which smooth muscles develop abundantly. The protein ...

Gut bacterial communities have been shown to be influenced by diet, host phylogeny and anatomy, but most of these studies have been done in captive animals. Here we compare the bacterial communities in the digestive tract of wild birds. We characterized the gizzard and intestinal microbiota among 8 wild Neotropical bird species, granivorous or frugivorous species of the orders Columbiformes and...

The role of the autonomic nerve on the gastric motility of the domestic fowl has been investigated by Nolf (1), Ihnen (2) and Hassan (3). Nolf has reported that both excitatory and inhibitory fibres are included in the vagus and also in the sympathetic nerve to the proventriculus and gizzard. However, there is little detailed study on the mechanism which causes excitatory and inhibitory respons...

Thick myosin filaments, in addition to actin filaments, were found in sections of glycerinated chicken gizzard smooth muscle when fixed at a pH below 6.6. The thick filaments were often grouped into bundles and run in the longitudinal axis of the smooth muscle cell. Each thick filament was surrounded by a number of thin filaments, giving the filament arrangement a rosette appearance in cross-se...

The Black Brant Branta bernicla nigricans is a seagrass-obligate goose, strongly tied to the estuaries of the Pacific Flyway coast of North America. Black Brant are unique in that they remain reliant on their traditional food resource, in contrast to other Brent Goose populations that now readily switch to feed on agricultural land during migration and in winter. While Black Brant use of coasta...

The aim of study was to compare carcass characteristics of broiler housed under two different rearing systems (cage and floor) in three housing zones. For this purpose, 240 day old commercial broilers (Hubbard Classic) were purchased and half of them were reared in cages and other half on floor. Under each system, the birds were further divided in three zones of house (near vent, middle and nea...

TYPE 1 avian adenoviruses belong to the genus Aviadenovirus within the adenovirus family. Five species of fowl adenovirus (fAdV) (designated by the letters A to E) are recognised within the Aviadenovirus genus based largely on molecular criteria, in particular restriction enzyme fragmentation patterns and sequencing data (McFerran and McConnel Adair 2003). fAdV are common infectious agents in p...