Development and performances of a Japanese quail line homozygous for the diabetes insipidus (di) mutation

A strain of Japanese quail with the polyuria disorder (excessive urination) was developed from founders that regurgitated water spontaneously. A backcross with a nonpolyuric quail line showed that the polyuric strain was fixed for an autosomal recessive mutation that also induced polydipsia (excessive drinking). Plasma levels and brain mRNA contents for avian Arg vasotocin were little affected by the mutation, but plasma avian Arg vasotocin was 13-fold higher and brain mRNA contents were significantly increased in both normal and mutant quail following a 24-h water deprivation. Affected and normal birds had similar performance traits (egg production and quality, feed intake, and gross carcass traits), but residual feed consumption was higher in polydipsic males. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that this strain was fixed for a mutation similar to the di gene described in the chicken and which induces nephrogenic diabetes insipidus. This new strain of Japanese quail might constitute a convenient model for the analysis of the underlying mechanisms of the disorder in birds and for comparative study with mammals.