Animals can show different responses to fear for example by playing dead when there is no possibility to escape. This response is called tonic immobility (TI) and is a well-established test of fear to evaluate fearfulness. Long durations of TI are generally considered as high levels of fearfulness. Physiological changes observed during tonic immobility suggest that there are changes in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) strongly involved in this process. The main objective for this study was to analyse duration of tonic immobility and heart and ventilation rate during tonic immobility in three different species; domesticated High Andean chickens (Gallus gallus), wild-caught Ornate Tinamous (Nothoprocta ornata) and Chilean Tinamous born in captivity (Nothoprocta perdicaria). In this study needle electrodes were used to measure heart and ventilation rate. The time following induction of tonic immobility (i.e. after holding the bird on its back for 15 s) was characterized by a large increase in heart and ventilation rate. During tonic immobility a progressive decrease in heart and ventilation rate was observed in all species, significant in all cases except for heart rate between start and end of TI in chickens. The duration of TI was significantly longer in Ornate Tinamou compared to Chilean Tinamou and chickens. The same was observed in latency to first head movement. TI is probably controlled by the autonomic nervous system, but a heart rate variability analysis has to be done in order to determine the different relative contributions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems in these species.

Orientador: Ana Sílvia Alves Meira Tavares Moura / Banca: Heraldo César Gonçalves / Banca: Mônica Corrêa Ledur / Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar locos controladores de características quantitativas (QTLs) nos cromossomos 11 e 13 de galinhas (Gallus gallus) para características de desempenho e carcaça. A partir do cruzamento entre uma linhagem de corte e uma de postura, foi gerada a população experimental F2 na Embrapa Suínos e Aves. Foram avaliadas as seguintes informações fenotípicas: peso ao nascer, peso aos 35, 41 e 42 dias, ganho de peso, consumo de ração, eficiência e conversão alimentar dos 35 aos 41 dias e valores de hematócrito. As carcaças foram evisceradas e avaliados: o comprimento do intestino, peso dos pulmões, do fígado, do coração e da moela. Foram obtidos após quatro horas de resfriamento: peso da carcaça, gordura abdominal, peso de partes: peito, coxas, dorso, asas, cabeça e pés. Quatro e cinco marcadores microssatélites dos cromossomos 11 e 13, respectivamente, foram genotipados num total aproximado de 330 animais F2 em quatro famílias de irmãos-completos. Os mapas de ligação para ambos os cromossomos foram construídos e a análise de mapeamento de QTLs baseada no modelo genético de F2 foi realizada. No cromossomo 11 foram mapeados dois QTLs sugestivos: para peso de pés e de moela, ambos posicionados no intervalo entre ADL0123 e ADL0210. No cromossomo 13 foi mapeado um QTL sugestivo para peso de coração posicionado no intervalo entre MCW0110 e MCW0104. / Abstract: The objective of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for performance and carcass traits in chicken (Gallus gallus) chromosomes 11 and 13. From the crossbreeding of a broiler and a layer line, an F2 experimental population was generated at the Embrapa Suínos e Aves. The following phenotypic data were recorded: body weights at birth, 35, 41 and 42 d; weight gain, feed consumption and feed conversion from 35 to 41 d; weights of carcass, carcass parts, organs and abdominal fat, hematocrit and length of intestine. Four and five microsatellite markers from chromosomes 11 and 13, respectively, were genotyped in approximately 330 F2 chickens from four full-sib families. The linkage maps for both chromosomes were constructed and the QTL mapping analyses were carried out based on an F2 genetic model. Two suggestive QTLs were mapped to chromosome 11: for feet and gizzard weights, both located in the interval between ADL0123 and ADL0210. On chromosome 13 one suggestive QTL for heart weight was detected in the interval between MCW0110 and MCW0104. / Mestre

Diferentes técnicas e metodologias foram utilizadas no estudo do desenvolvimento do sistema nervoso, analisando como modelos experimentais, entre outros, o embrião do \"Gallus domesticus\" e embriões de diferentes anfíbios. Com o advento do microscópio eletrônico de varredura (M.E.V.) pode-se, com certas limitações, efetuar uma análise tridimensional de estruturas biológicas. Portanto, utilizando o M.E.V., neste trabalho apresentamos nossas observações sobre o desenvolvimento inicial do tecto óptico do embrião de \"Gallus domesticus. / Different techniques and methods were used in the study of the development of the nervous system, analyzing how experimental models, among others, the embryo of \"Gallus domesticus\" and embryos of different amphibians. With the advent of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) can be, with certain limitations, make an analysis of three-dimensional structures. Therefore, using the SEM, in this paper we present our observations on the initial development of the embryo optical roof of \"Gallus domesticus.

A avicultura brasileira tem alcançado altos índices de desempenho na produção de carne e ovos, como resultado da atualização constante de tecnologias no setor. A biotecnologia vem contribuindo nesse sentido, atuando especialmente em programas de seleção de animais com maior potencial de desenvolvimento e crescimento. Como toda a fisiologia animal é controlada direta e/ou indiretamente pela hipófise e hipotálamo, este trabalho propôs identificar e analisar genes expressos nestas estruturas de galinhas de duas linhagens divergentes quanto ao potencial de crescimento e avaliar a expressão dos genes correspondentes a transcritos cuja identidade não pôde ser revelada (sem similar nos bacos de dados), uma vez que estes podem representar possíveis genes novos. Para isto, foram construídas e analisadas bibliotecas a partir da hipófise e hipotálamo de aves de 21 dias de idade de uma linha macho de corte (TT) e uma linhagem de postura (CC), provenientes da Embrapa Suínos e Aves. Um total de 4.286 ESTs válidas foi obtido (no mínimo150 pb com qualidade PHRED acima de 20), correspondendo a 2.133 ESTs da biblioteca da linhagem TT e 2.153 ESTs da biblioteca da linhagem CC. O exercício de montagem, via programa Cap3, revelou 3.074 seqüências únicas, sendo 1.643 da biblioteca da linhagem TT e 1.649 da CC. Estas seqüências únicas foram automaticamente classificadas, de acordo com as categorias do GeneOntology, sendo que as seqüências de ambas as bibliotecas apresentaram uma distribuição similar entre os termos. Após montagem das ESTs e análise do padrão de expressão digital das seqüências constituintes, dos 389 contigs obtidos, 194 foram compostos por seqüências diferencialmente expressas entre as bibliotecas. Foram detectados 28 contigs contendo SNPs linhagem específicos, sendo 52 SNPs TT específicos e 25 CC específicos. Um total de 146 ESTs não pôde ter sua identidade revelada, porém destas, 133 puderam ser localizadas no genoma da galinha e apresentaram pelo menos uma fase de leitura aberta (ORF). Após análise de expressão gênica, os genes correspondentes a 78 destas ESTs sem identidade apresentaram-se diferencialmente expressos entre pelo menos dois dos tecidos de aves de uma linhagem comercial de corte de 21 dias de idade estudados: hipófise, hipotálamo, cérebro, fígado e músculo. Os resultados apresentados são promissores e merecem ser investigados em estudos futuros com o objetivo de identificar marcadores moleculares para programas de seleção e melhoramento animal. / The brazilian aviculture has reached a high development level in both meat and egg production as a result of constant technological atualization in the sector. Biotechnology can contribute in this way acting in selection programs of animals that show higher growth and development potential. The global animal physiology is direct or indirectly controlled by pituitary and hypothalamus. The aim of this work was to identify and analyse genes expressed in these structures of two divergent line chickens according to growth potential and evaluate the gene expression of corresponding transcripts classified as "no hit", once these ESTs could represent new genes. In this way, two pituitary and hypothalamus libraries of 21 days broiler (TT) and a layer (CC) chickens supplied by Embrapa Swine and Poultry National Research Center were constructed and analysed. A total of 4,286 valid ESTs was obtained (showing at least 150 bp with PHRED quality above 20) corresponding to 2,133 ESTs of TT line library and 2,153 ESTs of CC line library. The clustering process by Cap3 resulted in 3,074 unique sequences corresponding to 1,643 TT library sequences and 1,649 of CC sequences. These unique sequences were automatically annotated according GeneOntology categories and both library sequences showed a similar distribution between the terms. After ESTs clustering and northern digital analysis, 389 contigs were obtained – 194 of them showed differentially expressed sequences between the libraries. A total of 28 contigs showed line specific SNPs, corresponding to 52 TT specific SNPs and 25 CC specific SNPs. 146 ESTs were classified as "no hit" but 133 of these sequences were localized in chicken genome and showed open reading frame (ORF). After gene expression analysis, the genes of 78 "no hit" ESTs showed different expression level between the five tissues of commercial broilers with 21 days old: pituitary, hypothalamus, brain, liver and muscle. These results are promising and must be more investigated in future studies to identify molecular markers for use in animal selection and improvement programs.

Stress cannot be fully avoided in an animal´s life, and the way that animals handle stress can be crucial for their health. Coping styles in animals are describing consistent sets of behaviour and physiological stress responses. Two forms of coping are typically described; a more proactive type that is more bold, active, and aggressive, and, in contrast, a less active, more shy reactive type. Coping styles can be used to learn how animals react to stress, and thus improve our handling of stress in captive animals. To investigate the existence of the reactive-proactive coping styles in the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), both male and female red junglefowl were exposed to behavioural assays measuring boldness, activity, exploration, and aggression. These behavioural measures were compared to blood plasma concentrations of the stress hormone corticosterone, hence exploring the link between behaviour and physiological response to stress. I show positive correlations between boldness, activity, and exploration measured in a novel arena test, and boldness and activity measured in a novel object test. This somewhat confirms the inter-related behavioural aspect of reactive-proactive coping styles. Further, some of these behaviours correlated with post-stress concentrations of corticosterone, which somewhat links behaviour to the physiological aspect of coping styles. This study tentatively supports the reactive-proactive coping styles by showing a link between behaviours and the physiological stress response in the red junglefowl, with some similarities to what have been observed in other species across taxa.

Significant heart and liver increase in hatching and neonates has been found evident in multiple different species such as the emu, Peking Duck, and pigs. The relative mechanism behind heart growth could be tied to closing of the ductus arteriosus, however there is still a debate whether it’s significant impact in avian species. Liver and heart mass were measured at four different transition stages before and after hatching on Red junglefowls (Gallus gallus). Heart mass was found to vary between 83-170mg, with the lowest values most often found in pre pipped chickens while higher values found more often in hatchlings. The relative heart mass was found to be significant (P<0,05) across all groups except between internally pipped and externally pipped chickens. Therefore, the results can conclude that an increase in relative heart mass was found to be directly tied to age. Liver mass was found to be significant (P<0,05) but changes in mass was found to occur only between EP and hatchling stage. Further analysis on absolute heart and liver mass showed in both cases hatchlings having a higher mean mass compared to the other three stages. Both absolute liver and heart mass was found to be statistically significant (P<0,05) which indicates there are no major differences between analysis on relative or absolute mass. These findings suggest that red junglefowls follow the same growth pattern found in other precocial birds such as emu or Peking duck.

Immune response provides vertebrates an important mechanism to fight pathogens and to reduce the incidence of diseases. Defining the molecular basis of antibody response may facilitate genetic improvement in the immune response of animals to pathogens. For almost 4 decades, antibody titers in response to challenge by sheep red blood cells (anti-SRBC) have provided an investigative tool in the efforts to define molecular mechanisms that underlie vertebrate immune response. The overall objective of this dissertation research was to identify DNA markers associated with anti-SRBC response in chickens. Specific objectives were: to develop a resource population for QTL analysis for anti-SRBC, to identify DNA markers and genes associated with primary anti-SRBC, and to evaluate the allelic frequencies in non-selected chicken populations of candidate markers associated with either high or low anti-SRBC response. These objectives tested the hypothesis that genetic control of a chicken's response to SRBC is polygenic. The resource population developed consisted of F1, backcross, and F2 derived from reciprocal crosses of birds from parental lines in the 28th generation of divergent selection for low (L) and high (H) anti-SRBC. The mean anti-SRBC titers of the parental lines were significantly different, with 11.5 for H and 2.6 for L (P<0.05). That for the 4 groups of F2 progeny ranged from 6.3 to 7.5, while those of the 8 groups of backcross progeny ranged from 3.9 to 13.3. Four of 555 random primers used to screen the parental H and L anti-SRBC lines were informative by amplifying seven line-specific fragments (P<0.0025). Each of the 7 line-specific fragments was converted to a sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) within which single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified and tested for association with anti-SRBC. Only two of the seven SCARs in the parental lines were associated (P<0.05) with anti-SRBC level in the backcross resource population. Additionally, from analysis of the parental L and H anti-SRBC lines using microarrays, a total of 57 line-specific SNPs were also identified. Twenty of the line-specific SNPs were in and/or near genes previously reported to have immunity-related function. Microarray-based gene expression profiling of pooled RNA samples from L and H anti-SRBC birds identified three differentially expressed genes. In summary, this dissertation describes resources that include candidate SCARs and SNPs as well as differentially expressed genes that may be useful for the identification of genes that underlie antibody response. / Ph. D.

The formation of the embryonic vasculature is essential for life. The components driving this process are well conserved across vertebrate species. At the core of vascular development is the specification of endothelial precursor cells from nascent mesoderm. Transcription factors of the ETS family are important regulators of endothelial specification. In this document we characterize the role of the ETS transcription factors, ETV2, during embryonic vascular development.Expression analysis shows that Etv2 is highly expressed in hematopoietic and endothelial precursor cells in the Xenopus embryo. In gain-of-function experiments, ETV2 is sufficient to activate ectopic expression of vascular endothelial markers. In addition, ETV2 activated expression of hematopoietic genes representing the myeloid but not the erythroid lineage. Loss-of-function studies indicate that ETV2 is required for expression of all endothelial markers examined. However, knockdown of ETV2 has no detectable effects on expression of either myeloid or erythroid markers. This contrasts with studies in mouse and zebrafish where ETV2 is required for development of the myeloid lineage. Our studies confirm an essential role for ETV2 in endothelial development, but also reveal important differences in hematopoietic development between organisms.Although ETV2 is a pivotal molecule in development it remains unidentified in the chicken genome. We hypothesize that chicken Etv2 is expressed in the early Gallus embryo, and is necessary for endothelial specification consistent with its role in other species. To test this hypothesis we attempted to amplify Etv2 transcripts from Gallus embryos using degenerate PCR. Disappointingly this strategy did not reveal a putative Etv2 candidate. However, some important findings were uncovered, including the cloning of a previously uncharacterized Gallus ETS protein, SPDEF. Additionally the identification of an annotation error mis-identifying Ets gene "Erf" as "Etv3" (also an Ets gene) provided details on gene arrangement previously unknown. The workflow described could be used in future studies for the identification of other members of gene families that exhibit gaps, keeping in mind the goal of the study and the limitations of each technology.

Personality is a topic that has been researched for a long time, however studies on non-human animals has only recently gained increased attention. In humans, impulsivity is a personality trait correlated with a wide variety of disorders. Impulsivity has also been shown to affect cognition, making it potentially having broad-ranged influences on the behavior of individuals. In this study, impulsivity was studied on white leghorn chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus) in two tests: a motor self-regulation test and a self-control test. Motor self-regulation, or the ability to inhibit motor impulses caused by external stimuli, was tested and compared between males and females. In this test there were differences between the impulsive behavior of the sexes. Self-control, or the ability to wait for a bigger, but delayed reward over a small and instant reward, was also studied. There were no sex-differences in self-control. Further, no correlation was observed between self-control and motor self-regulation. This suggest that the tests investigate different aspects of impulsivity, highlighting the complexity of impulsive behavior. Because this work was also carried out to evaluate and develop the two tests for a chicken model, I also discuss how these tests could be improved in the future.

Thesis advisor: Stephen F. Brown / Among the varied representations of mystical ascent in the Middle Ages, perhaps none was as original as that of Thomas Gallus (d.1246), an abbot of the Canons Regular at St. Andrea in Vercelli and the so-called "last of the great Victorines." Drawing on the highly-esteemed works of Dionysius the Areopagite, Thomas exegeted the Song of Songs in terms of the soul's ascent to God through both knowledge and love. His differs from earlier Song commentaries because of its Dionysius-inspired contention that the human soul reflects the nine orders of the angelic hierarchy. Through apophatic contemplation and desire for God, the soul ascends through these orders until its intellectual knowledge fails, and it is granted a union of love with through its Seraphic order. However, Thomas, following Gregory the Great and Hugh of St. Victor, argues that love itself is a kind of knowledge, indeed, the highest kind of knowledge, the very "wisdom of Christians." To bridge the gap between the grades of knowledge and of love, and between the intellect and affect, Thomas introduces the notion of the simplification of the soul, an idea that has its roots in the Neoplatonism of Dionysius. Simplification may be defined as the principle by which multiplicity and compositeness are anagogically abandoned in favor of greater unity and simplicity through mystical ascent. It forms the guiding principle of Gallus's mystical thought, and is described in three highly interrelated ways. First, the intellect leaves behind its knowledge of God through sensibilia, sensible knowledge gained through the senses and imagination, in favor of purely invisible contemplative objects or theoriae, which it contemplates first in its own reason and intellect, and then ecstatically and unitively in themselves. Each progressively higher level of contemplation is simpler and contains those below it. Secondly, the affect abandons its lesser desires for temporal and spiritual goods, and instead focuses its desire on the Good, which is the wellspring of all lower goods. Finally, and foundationally, simplification describes the movements of the powers of the soul, which unite as they ascend, increasingly reflecting the divine simplicity. This culminates with the affect's union with God, which undividedly contains within itself all lower forms of knowledge and love. When this fleeting union with God ends, the soul descends, becoming multiplex again, but it carries with it an inflow of graces, both intellectual and affectual, which are distributed to each order of its hierarchy "according to the capacity of each". This refreshment allows for future ascent. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.