JAPANESE QUAIL EGG EMBRYO AS A HOST FOR VIRUSES

Rauscher, Frank J. (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md.), James A. Reyniers, and Miriam R. Sacksteder. Japanese quail egg embryo as a host for viruses. J. Bacteriol. 84:1134-1139. 1962.-The egg embryo of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica, Temminck and Schlegel) was found to support readily the growth of a wide range of viruses known to infect chicken eggs. Methods commonly used in studying viruses in chicken eggs were modified and adapted to the quail egg. The procedures are described in detail. The sensitivity of quail eggs to representative viruses of the myxo and pox groups was found to be equal to that of chicken eggs. Preliminary observations of the different responses of quail eggs to standard chicken tumor and to quail-adapted Rous sarcoma virus are described. Viruses known not to grow or induce an observable response in chicken eggs (e.g., the agents of mouse hepatitis, murine leukemias, and visceral lymphomatosis of chickens) also failed to produce such responses in quail eggs.