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Extreme environmental conditions and stresses can have significant negative effects on physiological
as well as life history traits of organisms.In response to the stress factors various genes are up
regulated in the body, which can mitigate the effect of stress and lead to adjustment of the cellular
milieu and animal tolerance. Birds can be easily subjected to stress.An external stressor sets off a
rapid cascade of responses in vertebrates to deal with the threat and then to reestablish
homeostasis.Stress stimulates several hormonal responses.The present study deals with an analysis
of photoperiod as a stress factor on the serum proteins of Coturnixcoromandelica. For the study the
birds were divided into unstressed or the control group and the stressed or the experimental groups
consisting of three sets of three birds each.
The experiment aimed at providing acute photoperiodic stress for seventy two hours followed by
observations in changes in behavior and serum proteins. Serum proteins were subjected to
electrophoresis and changes in band width with increase or decrease in bands of proteins were
analyzed later. The experimental birds showed marked changes in behavior after the completion of
the experiment.
Key words: Photoperiod, Coturnixcoromandelica, Acute stress,Serum proteins, Electrophoresis