野生及び飼育ニホンライチョウ未受精卵の免疫グロブリン量の比較

Concentration of immunoglobulin Y (IgY) in egg yolk as well as IgA and IgM in egg white were measured from captive and wild Japanese rock ptarmigan eggs using commercially available chicken Ig ELISA kits, in an effort to assess whether high mortality of chicks in captivity could be attributed to insufficient levels of these antibodies in eggs. Larger but non-significant differences in egg yolk IgY levels were observed between captive and wild specimens using the current methodology, with smaller non-significant differences detected for egg white IgA and IgM. Thus, the lack of maternal passive immunity in the form of egg antibodies might not be a contributing factor to newly hatched chicks’ resistance to opportunistic pathogens under captive conditions.