Sex-(in)dependent Signatures of Estrogen Exposure: Transcriptomic, Morphological, and Histological responses in Embryonic Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica)

The present study aims to assess the importance of sex in designing toxicological experiments that are based on avian early-life stage tests and transcriptomics. The present study explores sex-dependent and -independent gene expression of embryonic Japanese quail after ethinylestradiol (EE2) exposure. EE2 was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide and injected into the air cell of eggs prior to incubation at nominal concentrations of 0 and 3.33 µg/g egg weight. At embryonic day 9, the left lobe of the liver was collected from 5 embryos per sex per treatment group for transcriptomic analysis. Overall design: Liver mRNA profiles of male and female Japanese quail at embryonic day 9 following single exposure to either solvent or ethinylestradiol solution at embryonic day 0