Vol. 45, No. 1 Supplementum, 2001 content next

RESEARCH INTO THE MORPHOLOGY OF JAPANESE QUAIL CHICKS HATCHED UNDER CONDITIONS OF MICROGRAVITY

Dadasheva, O. A., Guryeva, T. S., Sabo, V.*, Boďa, K.**, Kočišová, J.***

State Scientific Centre - Institute of Biomedical Problems
76A Khoroshevskoye shosse
Moscow 123007
Russia		 * Institute of Animal Biochemistry and Genetics SAS
900 28 Ivanka pri Dunaji
The Slovak Republic		 ** Research Institute of Veterinary Medicine
900 28 Ivanka pri Dunaji
The Slovak Republic		 *** University of Veterinary Medicine
Komenského 73
041 81 Košice
The Slovak Republic

Summary

Experiment "Quail SK 6", performed between the 20th and 27th February, 1999 on the orbital space station "MIR" let raise live quail hatchlings under condition of weightlessness. The quail chicks hatched together and at assumed deadline (17.5-18 days). Upon their visual examination on board the orbital space station "MIR" and subsequently in the laboratory on the Earth, no anomalies were found in the development of body construction and its parts. Morphometric examination of hatched quail chicks, living under conditions of microgravity from 2-3 to 4-5 days, was carried out. The morphometric parameters of the total length of the quail chick bodies of the group living in space, and of the individual parts (head, beak, eyes) almost corresponded to the analogous parameters of the bird bodies in the control group.
A certain delay in the body weight of space quails was observed in comparison with the controls. Examination of the state of locomotor-support apparatus for the quail chicks, which were in zero gravity, revealed a delay in the bone growth of both limbs compared with the controls. The factors of space flight, including weightlessness, have not had a substantial effect on the process of the osteogenesis of the skeletons of quails which had undergone more than two thirds of their embryonic development under normal gravitation.

Key words: orbital station "MIR"; Japanese quail; postembryonic development; embryogenesis; osteogenesis; supporting and locomotory apparatus

References

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Folia Veterinaria / 2001