Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Poult Sci. 2023 Sep;102(9):102882. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2023.102882. Epub 2023 Jun 19.
Mineralized eggshell is a unique and protective structure in an avian egg. Among different eggshell layers, the cuticle layer is an outermost layer and plays a critical role in protection against bacterial infection. Although the importance of nanosphere in the cuticle layer on the antimicrobial function has been widely accepted, the detailed nanostructure of the cuticle layer in the major poultry species has not been investigated. In the current study, eggs from Japanese quail, commercial layer chickens, mixed breed turkeys, and White Pekin ducks were collected. To investigate the nanostructure throughout the cuticle layer, images of the cross-sectional cuticle layer were taken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Unlike the cuticle layer in ducks showing deformed bunched nanospheres, clearly separated nanospheres were present throughout the cuticle layer in quail, chickens, and turkeys. The average size of the nanosphere was the biggest in turkeys and similar between quail and chickens. Most importantly, the size of nanospheres was increased as they ascended from the bottom of the cuticle layer in quail, showing a positive correlation between the size and distance of the nanospheres. However, different sizes of nanospheres were randomly distributed throughout the cuticle layer in chickens and turkeys, showing a weak correlation in chickens and no correlation in turkeys between the size and distance of nanospheres. These new findings in different nanostructures of the cuticle layers in quail, chickens, turkeys, and ducks will serve as a new foundation to better relate their structures with functions.
矿化蛋壳是禽类蛋中的一种独特而具有保护作用的结构。在不同的蛋壳层中，壳膜层是最外层，对于防止细菌感染起着关键作用。虽然壳膜层中的纳米球在抗菌功能方面的重要性已被广泛接受，但主要家禽物种的壳膜层的详细纳米结构尚未得到研究。在本研究中，收集了日本鹌鹑、商业蛋鸡、杂交火鸡和白番鸭的蛋。为了研究壳膜层的整个纳米结构，使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）拍摄了壳膜层的横截面图像。与鸭子的壳膜层中变形的束状纳米球不同，鹌鹑、鸡和火鸡的壳膜层中存在明显分离的纳米球。纳米球的平均大小在火鸡中最大，在鹌鹑和鸡中相似。最重要的是，纳米球的大小随着它们从壳膜层底部上升而增加，显示出纳米球的大小和距离之间存在正相关关系。然而，在鸡和火鸡中，纳米球的大小在壳膜层中是随机分布的，显示出鸡中纳米球的大小和距离之间存在较弱的相关性，而在火鸡中则没有相关性。这些在鹌鹑、鸡、火鸡和鸭的壳膜层中不同纳米结构的新发现，将为更好地将其结构与功能联系起来提供新的基础。
