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Formal properties of the circadian system underlying photoperiodic time-measurement in Japanese quail

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Summary

The photosensitive phase for the photoperiodic response of Japanese quail was delineated with 3 h main photoperiods and 0.25 h night breaks in cycles (T) of 24 and 27 h. UnderT24 there was one peak of induction of testicular growth and luteinizing hormone release, while underT27 there were two, the first of which had a phase angle which was about 1.5 h more positive than that of the peak inT24. In contrast, the phase angle of locomotor activity underT27 was 3–4 h more positive than underT24. During entrainment to 1 h photoperiods in cycles between 19.1 and 25.7 h in length the rate of testicular growth (k) remained close to zero even though the subjective night of the activity rhythm was illuminated in some treatments. The ratek also remained close to zero when quail were exposed to 3 h photoperiods in cycles between 21 and 36 h in length, and underT30 the critical daylength for photoperiodic induction was only 1.5 h shorter than that underT24. The results suggest that asT is altered the changes in the phase angle of the photoinducible phase are smaller than those of the rhythm of locomotor activity, indicating the involvement of oscillators with different entrainment properties. This hypothesis is neither supported nor excluded by consideration of the internal coincidence model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC Research Group on Photoperiodism and Reproduction, Department of Zoology, The University, Woodland Road, BS8 1UG, Bristol, England

    S. M. Simpson & B. K. Follett

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  1. S. M. Simpson
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  2. B. K. Follett
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Simpson, S.M., Follett, B.K. Formal properties of the circadian system underlying photoperiodic time-measurement in Japanese quail. J. Comp. Physiol. 145, 381–390 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00619342

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