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Viability of in vitro produced cattle embryos.
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2001-06-01
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Morris, D.G., Diskin, M.G., Sreenan, J.M., Viability of in vitro produced cattle embryos, End of Project Repotrs, Teagasc, 2001.
Abstract
Embryo transfer is being increasingly used in the cattle industry. As well as direct
embryo transfers, many embryo-based biotechnologies have the potential to
improve cattle production efficiency through enhanced breeding strategies, by
facilitating the introduction of desirable traits such as disease resistance and
through the production of desirable medical or pharmaceutical products in the
milk. These biotechnologies are, however, dependent on a supply of viable in
vitro produced (IVP) embryos. While the in vitro fertilization rate is high (80%)
in cattle, only about 30 transferable embryos, or blastocysts, are produced from
every 100 fertilized oocytes. A major factor affecting the viability of IVP embryos
is their failure, in a high proportion of cases, to undergo normal development to
the blastocyst stage in the manner of in vivo embryos. The major problem
relates to a failure of the cells of IVP embryos to form a compact cell mass when
they are 5 - 6 days old. This ultimately leads to developmental problems and
compromised viability. Cell compaction is recognized as a critical event in early
embryo development and has been associated with marked changes in protein
synthesis and phosphorylation in the embryos of some species. This report is the
first, to our knowledge, to describe the rate and pattern of protein synthesis and
phosphorylation before, during and after compaction in both in vivo and in IVP
cattle embryos. The main results are summarised below.