A Comparison of in vitro Development of Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Embryos Produced either by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer or in vitro Fertilization using Oocytes Obtained by Different Methods
Yang, C.; Pang, C.; Zheng, H.; Huang, F.; Shang, J.; Wang, J.; Yang, B.; Liang, X.
Buffalo Bulletin 32: 423-426
2013
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-6726 Accession: 070712399
This study was conducted to investigate the developmental competence and blastocyst formation speed of three kinds of in vitro produced buffalo embryos: in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos derived from oocytes collected either by aspirating of abattoir ovaries (abattoir-IVF) or by ovum pick up (OPU-IVF) matured in vitro, and somatic cell nuclear transferred (SCNT) embryos. The cleavage rate, blastocyst rate and blastocyst formation time of these embryos were recorded. The results showed that: (1) the cleavage rates of abattoir-IVF, OPU-IVF and SCNT embryos were not different form each other (52.5%, 63.4%, 56.4%, respectively), whereas the blastocyst rate of OPU-IVF embryos was higher than that of SCNT embryos (36.4% vs 19.8%, p<0.05); (2) as for abattoir ovaries-IVF embryos, the percentage of blastocysts harvested on Day 7 (46.8%) was higher than those harvested on Days 6, 8 and 9 (17.7%, 23.0%, 12.5%, respectively; p<0.01); as for OPU-IVF embryos, the percentage of blastocysts harvested on Day 7 (44.5%) was higher than those harvested on Days 6, 8 and 9 (17.6%, 27.8%, 9.7%, respectively; p<0.01); as for SCNT embryos, the percentages of blastocysts harvested on Day 6 and Day 7 (49.6% and 31.3%) was higher than those harvested on Days 5, 8 and 9 (7.4%, 8.5%, 1.7%, respectively; p<0.01). In conclusion, the developmental competence of SCNT embryos was poorer than that of OPU-IVF embryos, whereas the abattoir-IVF and OPU-IVF groups showed similar developmental competence. Furthermore, the blastocyst formation of SCNT embryos occurs earlier than the IVF embryos.