Summary
The tissues of the domestic hen's reproductive tract have been shown to contain both acidic and neutral mucins. The presence of an egg in the isthmus was always accompanied with an increase in the concentration in the isthmus secretory epithelium of PAS-positive mucins without free acidic groups. Staining of uterine tissue for strongly acidic groups with basic dyes was greater when an egg had been present in the shell gland at the time of death and the same was true for tissues of the upper oviduct. The results are discussed with special reference to the periodic secretion of organic mammillary core and egg shell mucins.
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Robinson, D.S., King, N.R. & Bowen, D.J. The occurrence of neutral and acidic mucins in the reproductive tract of the laying hen. Histochemie 13, 97–104 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00266574
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00266574