Premium
Calves Born after Direct Transfer of Vitrified Bovine In Vitro ‐produced Blastocysts Derived from Vitrified Immature Oocytes
Author(s) -
Vieira AD,
Forell F,
Feltrin C,
Rodrigues JL
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
reproduction in domestic animals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.546
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1439-0531
pISSN - 0936-6768
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0531.2007.00899.x
Subject(s) - vitrification , cryopreservation , blastocyst , andrology , embryo , in vitro maturation , embryo transfer , in vitro fertilisation , in vitro , oocyte , biology , embryo cryopreservation , chemistry , embryogenesis , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry
Contents Vitrification has been the method of choice for the cryopreservation of bovine oocytes, as rapid cooling decreases chilling sensitivity. The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro and in vivo survival and the viability of immature oocytes vitrified using super‐cooled liquid nitrogen. Immature oocytes were randomly allocated to three groups: (i) non‐vitrified control group, (ii) vitrified in normal (−196°C) liquid nitrogen (LN 2 ) and (iii) vitrified in super‐cooled LN 2 (≤−200°C). Open‐pulled glass micropipettes were used as vitrification containers. Immature oocytes were in vitro ‐matured, fertilized and cultured to the blastocyst stage. In vitro viability was assessed by cleavage and blastocyst rates on days 2 and 7 of culture respectively. Vitrified blastocysts derived from the immature vitrified oocytes were directly transferred to synchronous recipients. The in vitro embryo development of vitrified immature oocytes was not influenced by the LN 2 state. After direct transfer (one embryo per recipient) of 16 embryos obtained from immature vitrified oocytes (eight from each vitrified group), two healthy calves were born in each group. These results indicated that vitrification of immature bovine oocytes using glass micropipettes under normal or super‐cooled LN 2 , resulted in viable blastocysts and live calves following in vitro embryo production.