Projects per year
Abstract / Description of output
The cuticle is a proteinaceous layer covering the avian egg and is believed to form a defence to microorganism ingress. In birds that lay eggs in challenging environments, the cuticle is thicker, suggesting evolutionary pressure; however, in poultry, selection pressure for this trait has been removed because of artificial incubation. This study aimed to quantify cuticle deposition and to estimate its genetic parameters and its role on trans-shell penetration of bacteria. Additionally, cuticle proteins were characterised to establish whether alleles for these genes explained variation in deposition. A novel and reliable quantification was achieved using the difference in reflectance of the egg at 650nm before and after staining with a specific dye. The heritability of this novel measurement was moderate (0.27), and bacteria penetration was dependent on the natural variation in cuticle deposition. Eggs with the best cuticle were never penetrated by bacteria (P
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 661-668 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Animal Genetics |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 6 |
Early online date | 10 Jul 2013 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Jul 2013 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- chicken
- eggshell
- risk
- genetics
- heritability
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Dive into the research topics of 'Enhancing the egg's natural defence against bacterial penetration by increasing cuticle deposition'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 3 Finished
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Control of development and reproductive traits
Burdon, T., Argyle, D., Ashworth, C., Beard, P., Brunton, P., Burt, D., Clinton, M., Dunn, I., Farquharson, C., Headon, D., Hocking, P., Hohenstein, P., Hume, D., Jackson, I., McColl, B., McGrew, M., McLachlan, G., Sang, H., Summers, K. & Whitelaw, B.
1/04/12 → 31/03/17
Project: Research
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RESCAPE: Reducing Egg Susceptibility to Contaminations in Avian Production in Europe (RESCAPE)
1/05/08 → 30/09/09
Project: Research
Activities
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26th ANNUAL AUSTRALIAN POULTRY SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM
Ian Dunn (Participant)
9 Feb 2015 → 11 Feb 2015Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
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New strategies for improving egg shell quality and egg safety
Ian Dunn (Contributor)
14 Jun 2011Activity: Other activity types › Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation