Figure 4. Effects of cloacal gland secretion (CGS) and PGF_2α on the fertilization of Japanese quail.

Female quail were treated with (a), vehicle alone, or (b), CGS. After 10 min, the Hoechst 33342-stained sperm were artificially inseminated. The utero-vaginal junction mucosa was isolated from the bird 1 h after the artificial insemination (AI), and SST was observed under fluorescence microscope. Arrows indicate the resident sperm in the SST. Bar = 100 μm. (c), The percentage of the SST containing sperm was calculated. The data are expressed as the mean ± SEM of 3 replicates. An asterisk indicates a significant difference, P < 0.05. (d), The female was mated with the male without treatment (+Foam), or the male in which foam was manually removed (−Foam). The female was intra-vaginally injected with CGS (−Foam +CGS) or 2 × 10⁻⁹ M PGF_2α (−Foam +PGF_2α) and were allowed to mate with the male, which had his foam manually removed. The female of which was intra-vaginally injected 1 μM AL 8810 was mated with intact male (+Foam +AL8810). Eggs were collected daily for 8 days and examined for embryo development in order to confirm fertilization. Fertility was calculated and expressed as the mean ± SEM. 3–5 birds were used for each treatment. Values with different letters are significantly different, P < 0.05.