The Study Of Cadmium Toxicity On The Reproduction Of Female Quail, Coturnix Coturnix Japonica

With the quick development of modern industry and agriculture, industry and agriculture waste which contains plenty of heavy metal pollutants were dumped in environment, the problem of heavy metal pollution in the environment becomes serious. Cadmium, one of the heavy metals, is hardly volatile. It could exist without breaking down for a long.time. It can be passed through food chain, absorbed and accumulated, reached a high concentration in some organisms, which includes many kinds of birds. The course of cadmium accumulation could influence the survival and development of bird individuals, population and community. In this study, quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were chosen as the research object to study the toxicity of cadmium on the avian reproduction. The effect of cadmium on ATPase activities of shell gland, the influence of cadmium on ultra structure, histology and biochemical composition of quails' oviduct, and the impact of cadmium on the egg quality were studied. The main contents and results were summarized as following:1. The effect of cadmium on the ATPase activities in quails' shell gland (uterus)Every other day, laying quails were given the saline of CdCl₂by muscle injection, the doses were 10 and 0 mg cadmium/kg body weight. On the 8th day, quails were sacrificed for tissue harvest, the shell glands were obtained, homogenized, and then detected ATPase activities. The results showed that Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺-ATPase activities were higher in the shell gland of cadmium-exposed quails, comparing with the control. It indicated the function of shell gland cells have been damaged by cadmium, but haven't completely destroyed; the cells still could struggle to sustain certain physiological activities.2. The influence of cadmium on the structure of quails' oviductEvery other day, laying quails were given the saline of CdCl₂by muscle injection, the doses were 10 and 0 mg cadmium/kg body weight. On the 8th day, quails were sacrificed for tissue harvest, magnum, isthmus and shell gland of the quail oviduct were obtained. Samples for Transmission Electron Microscope and Light microscopy were prepared. The ultra structure observation showed that the mitochondrion swelled in all the tissue of cadmium-exposed quails, the quantity of secretion granules changed, endoplasmic reticular and Golgi apparatus atrophied. The histology...