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Coquille de l'oeuf de caille: Étude ultrastructurale et cristallographique

The shell of the quail's egg: Ultrastructural and crystallographic study

Calcified Tissue Research volume 25, pages 145–159 (1978)Cite this article

Summary

The egg-shell of Japanese quail was studied by several techniques. Semithin sections (1μm thick) of non-decalcified shell were observed by normal and polarized light microscopy. Thin sections of non-decalcified shell, examined by transmission electron microscopy, permitted us to observe the forms and dimensions of crystals of calcite within different layers of the shell: mammilary layer, layer of cones, palissade layer and surface crystal layer. There appears to be two distinct zones in the layer of cones as well as in the superficial crystal layer. Electron microdiffraction revealed the orientation of calcite crystals in the columns. Some crystal defects (twins?) were described and the possibility of their artefactual formation during ultramicrotomy is discussed.

Localization of Ca, Mg, P and S were made by X-ray microanalysis of semithin sections. This technique shows that shell membranes, and chiefly the true cuticle, are also mineralized but, in these layers, minerals are not crystallized. Otherwise the distribution of Mg is not uniform throughout the shell thickness; it is less concentrated in the external zone of the layer of cones.

These results together with observation of developing shells by scanning electron microscopy allowed us to propose a scheme for shell organization of the quail egg. This organization was related with decalcification which occurs during hatching.

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Affiliations

  1. Centre de Cytologie Expérimentale, C.N.R.S., 67, Rue Maurice Gunsbourg, F-94200, Ivry-sur-Seine, France

    Carmen Quintana, Daniel Sandoz & M. C. Delaunay

  2. Laboratoire de Physique des Matériaux, C.N.R.S., Place Aristide Briand, F-92190, Meudon, France

    A. Rivière

  3. Département de Biophysique, Faculté de Médecine de Créteil, 6, Rue du Géneral Sarrail, F-94000, Créteil, France

    P. Baoumati

Authors
  1. Carmen Quintana
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  2. Daniel Sandoz
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  3. M. C. Delaunay
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  4. A. Rivière
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  5. P. Baoumati
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Quintana, C., Sandoz, D., Delaunay, M.C. et al. Coquille de l'oeuf de caille: Étude ultrastructurale et cristallographique. Calc. Tis Res. 25, 145–159 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02010763

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02010763

Key words

  • Bird egg shell
  • Ultrastructure
  • Calcification
  • Electron diffraction
  • Microanalysis