Demasculinization of male japanese quail by prenatal estrogen treatment
Whitsett, J.M.; Irvin, E.W.; Edens, F.W.; Thaxton, J.P.
Hormones and Behavior 8(2): 254-263
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0018-506X PMID: 863403 Document Number: 434450
Genetic male Japanese quail [Coturnix coturnix japonica] were administered sex hormones or the oil vehicle on day 10 of incubation and were caponized 3 wk after hatching. As adults, the capons were injected with testosterone propionate daily for 2 wk and then were tested for masculine sexual behavior in response to sexually receptive females. Males that had received as little as 2 .mu.g of estradiol-17.beta. in ovo failed to exhibit the head grabbing and mounting typical of the normal masculine sexual response to females. This demasculinization was also produced by prenatal treatment with 2 .mu.g of estradiol-17.alpha., estrone, estriol, or diethylstilbestrol, but not by this quantity of testosterone. An estrogen may be the agent of behavioral demasculinization in the normal female. Endogenous testosterone poses no difficulty for proper sexual development in the normal male.