Transplantation of ovaries in Japanese quail ( Coturnix japonica)

This study aimed to extend techniques of ovarian transplantation from chickens to Japanese quail. Ovarian tissue was surgically transplanted from chicks obtained from a line of white-breasted ( wb/ wb) to those of wild-type (+/+) quail at 1-day of age or at 1 week, with or without subsequent administration of the immunosuppressant, mycophenolate mofetil. Only one out of seven quail (14.3%) transplanted at 1-day of age survived the surgery but 14 of 18 quail (77.8%) transplanted at a week of age survived and grew to sexual maturity. In the 8-week progeny test, among those quail that produced offspring, one of four in the non-immunosuppressed group and all five in the immuosuppressed group produced donor-derived offspring. The proportion of donor-derived to host-derived offspring from five quail in the immnuosuppressed group (173/57) was significantly higher than that from one quail that was not immunosuppressed (3/47). These results suggest that quail ovaries can be transplanted at the age of 1 week and that the immnunosuppressant, mycophenolate mofetil, used for mammalian organ transplantation can suppress immunological rejection in birds. These transplantation techniques could provide an efficient means of recovering a line of quail after cryopreservation.