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.