Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute of the University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118, Kiel, Germany.
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biotechnology and Animal Husbandry, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Aleja Piastów 45, 70-311, Szczecin, Poland.
Sci Rep. 2022 Feb 2;12(1):1785. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-05649-2.
Young's modulus (E) is a measure for stiffness of a material and a higher E means a higher stiffness. The respective polymorphism of the feather corneous beta-protein gene causes the replacement of glycine by cysteine. We looked for possible effects of the three FCBP genotypes on E in the 10th primaries of racing pigeons. However, we did not find a statistically significant difference of E between the genotypes, even within the sexes and/or within different locations under our test conditions. Our findings do not preclude the possibility that under other conditions (temperature, moisture) an influence of the glycine/cysteine polymorphism on E may exist. Compared to the more proximal locations of the rachis (base and middle) we observed lower values for E in the distal region (tip). The 10th primary constitutes the leading edge of the pigeon wing and this special function may require higher stiffness in the proximal parts of the shaft. We observed significantly higher values of E in females than in males, which result only from statistically significantly higher values in the middle region. The higher stiffness of female primaries may also contribute to the better results of hens compared to cocks in pigeon races.
杨氏模量（E）是衡量材料刚性的指标，E 值越高表示刚性越高。羽毛角蛋白β-蛋白基因的不同多态性导致甘氨酸被半胱氨酸取代。我们研究了三种 FCBP 基因型是否会对赛鸽第十根主翼羽的 E 值产生影响。然而，即使在我们的测试条件下按性别和/或不同部位分组，也未发现 E 值在基因型间存在统计学差异。我们的研究结果并不排除在其他条件（温度、湿度）下，甘氨酸/半胱氨酸多态性可能对 E 值存在影响的可能性。与羽轴的近端部位（基部和中部）相比，我们在远端部位（尖端）观察到 E 值较低。第十根主翼羽构成鸽子翅膀的前缘，这个特殊的功能可能需要在轴的近端部分具有更高的刚性。我们观察到雌性的 E 值明显高于雄性，这主要是由于中部区域的 E 值显著更高。雌性主翼羽的刚性较高也可能有助于母鸡在赛鸽比赛中比公鸡取得更好的成绩。
