Comparison between Urea and Goat Manure as Sources of Nitrogen for Napier Grass Grown on Terraced Hill

Effects of two nitrogen (N) sources on dry matter (DM) yield and nutritive value of Napier grass were evaluated. The nitrogen (N) fertiliser (at rate of 300 kg N ha?1 year?1) was applied by dividing the terraces of a hill under two treatments: T1 (urea) and T2 (goat manure). There were three replicates of each treatment arranged within three blocks in a completely randomised design. Grass was cut at about 60?day interval. In the first to fourth harvests, grass receiving manure had higher plant height than those with urea application. Grass receiving manure had higher DM yield than urea in almost all of the cuttings. In the fourth harvest, grass receiving urea contained higher DM and organic matter (OM) than manure. Similar result was found for fifth harvest where urea gave higher crude protein (CP) than manure. Irrespective of harvesting frequencies, average DM, OM, CP and neutral detergent fibre contents were not significantly different between grasses fertilised with manure and urea. In conclusion, manure is recommended for economical cultivation of Napier grass on terrace of hill

Recovery and grading of goat oocytes with special reference to laparoscopic ovum pick-up technique: a review

Oocytes are the main raw materials for in vitro embryo production (IVP) experiments. Therefore, the success of any IVP program in goat production, either in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) largely depends on the continuous supply of quality oocytes in optimum quantity. A number of methods are currently used for oocyte recovery (OR) from live or slaughtered goats. Although, abattoir is the most easy and cheapest source of oocytes, however, in certain countries especially in Malaysia, abattoir source is extremely limited due to low slaughtering activities as a consequence of shortage of breeding stock. In Malaysia normally older goats or goats those are culled for breeding are slaughtered for meat. Therefore, the quality of oocytes recovered from ovaries of these goats is generally lower. On the contrary, OR from live goats using laparoscopic ovum pick-up (LOPU) technique provides many advantages, for example, OR can be repeated 3-5 times in the same goat at interval as short as a week or less, OR can be done in prepubertal and aged goats, if prepubertal goat is used for OR then generation intervals will be reduced, LOPU coupled with IVP can become an effrcient method of early propagation of valuable goats and LOPU can overcome limitations frequently associated with multiple ovulation-embryo transfer (MOET). Therefore, LOPU can be an alternative and efficient OR method in goat not only for Malaysia but also for other countries. The current study will discuss oocyte recovery methods with special reference to LOPU and grading of recovered oocytes in goats. © 2008 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Effects of murine strain, blastocyst stage and inner cell mass isolation technique on the efficacy of murine embryonic stem cells

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of murine strain, blastocyst stage and inner cell mass (ICM) isolation technique on the efficiency of deriving murine embryonic stem cell (mESC) lines. Foetal mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were cultured to Passage 2, cryopreserved and thawed at each passage to be used as feeder layer for mESC culture. Five blastocyst stages from in vivo and in vitro produced blastocysts were cultured on the MEFs by using 3 different ICM isolation techniques. ICM outgrowths were disaggregated by trypsin/EDTA (0.05%) and manual dissociation, cultured on new inactivated MEFs in CO 2 (5%) incubator, 37°C. The attachment, primary ICM outgrowth and successful consecutive passages rates up to P3 were compared among the murine strains, blastocyst stages and ICM isolation techniques. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in successful passage rate at P3 between CBA/ca with ICR and C57BL/6J (19.81% vs. 9.00% and 8.50%), respectively, also mESC at P1 for mid-, expanded- and hatching blastocyst stages versus early- and hatched blastocyst (45.35%, 52.79% and 43.01% vs. 27.88% and 24.53%), respectively. Manual cut ICM isolation technique consistently gave the highest attachment, primary ICM outgrowth and successful mESC P2 and P3 rates compared with whole blastocyst culture and laser dissection techniques (78.03% vs. 66.52% and 71.06%; 78.35% vs. 75.32% and 75.67%; 52.06% vs. 41.62% and 45.06%; 36.52% vs. 25.77% and 30.49%), respectively. In conclusions, the CBA/ca strain, expanded blastocyst stage and manual cut ICM isolation techniques showed the highest results obtained in production of mESC lines

Effects of oocyte source on the developmental competence of in vitro matured goat oocytes fertilized by the intracytoplasmic sperm injection technique

This study evaluated the effects of oocyte source on in vitro maturation (IVM) and embryo developmental competence in goats by the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique. Oocytes were obtained either by laparoscopic ovum pick-up (LOPU) or by slicing of abattoir ovaries. The donor does used for LOPU were superstimulated and their estrus was synchronized. Recovered oocytes from both sources were cultured in microdrops of IVM medium in the presence of CO(2) (5%) at 38.5 degrees C in a CO(2) incubator for 27 h. The ICSI was performed with immobilized sperm on the lid of a culture dish (35 mm) under an Olympus inverted microscope fitted with Narishige micromanipulators. Injected oocytes were cultured for < 192 h in mSOF medium in the CO(2) incubator. Although oocyte recovery per doe was higher (P < 0.05) in abattoir (27.3 +/- 3.0) than LOPU (17.6 +/- 2.5) source, better quality oocytes were obtained from LOPU. Oocyte maturation rate was higher (P < 0.01) in LOPU (73.8 +/- 3.0%) than abattoir-derived (54.0 +/- 0.7%) oocytes. Fertilization and cleavage rates (60.9 +/- 2.1% and 83.1 +/- 2.6%, respectively) were also higher (P < 0.05) with LOPU than abattoir-derived (50.6 +/- 2.3% and 69.3 +/- 4.5%) oocytes. A higher (P < 0.05) proportion of LOPU-derived embryos (20.0 +/- 1.2%) progressed to the morula stage than abattoir (11.3 +/- 4.7%) source. In conclusion, better maturation, fertilization, and embryo development rates were obtained with LOPU-derived oocytes than with the abattoir source

Feed intake and growth performance of goats offered napier grass(Pennisetum purpureum) supplemented with concentrate pellet and soya waste

The experiment was conducted to determine the feed intake and body weight (BW) change of Boer goats supplemented with a commercial concentrate pellet and combinations of concentrate and soya waste. Twelve male goats were divided into three groups. Each group was randomly allocated to each of the three treatment diets: Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) ad libitum and concentrate pellet at rate of 2.0% of BW, daily (T1); Napier grass ad libitum and concentrate pellet at rate of 1.4% of BW and soya waste at rate of 0.5% of BW, daily (T2) and Napier grass ad libitum and concentrate pellet at rate of 0.9% of BW and soya waste at rate of 0.5% of BW, daily (T3). The results indicated that supplementation of concentrate pellet together with soya waste (T2 or T3) significantly (p<0.05) decreased intakes of grass dry matter (DM), total DM and total crude protein compared to the solely concentrate pellet group (T1). However, BW gain was significantly (p<0.05) higher in T2 treatment compared with the T1 or T3 treatments. Supplementation of concentrate pellet with soya waste (T2 or T3) significantly (p<0.05) improved the feed conversion efficiency and reduced the feed cost of goats compared with solely concentrate pellet group (T1). The results indicated that grass intake and feed cost can be reduced by replacing concentrate pellet with soya waste in the diet of goats where soya waste is available

Estrus synchronization and superovulation in goats: a review

The study was intended to review the recent developments and advances of estrus synchronization and superovulation protocols in goats with a view to improve oocytes/embryo recovery for In Vitro Production (IVP) efficiencies. Although a number of estrus synchronizing protocols has been developed in goat the most widely used one is the treatment of progesterone for 9-11 days followed by a luteolytic dose of prostaglandin administered in the period 48 h prior to removal of intravaginal sponge. Until now, Controlled Internal Drug Release (CIDR) device and subcutaneous implants are more preferable than sponges. Ovulation in goat can be synchronized more precisely by administering Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) around the time of estrus that improves the success of fixed-time Artificial Insemination (AI) and oocytes or embryos collection at a controlled stage. Superovulation is the hormonal treatment for increasing a large number of oocytes that ultimately accelerate genetic improvement in any species. Generally an exogenous follicle-stimulating gonadotrophin is administered that mimics the effect of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) near the end of the luteal phase of the cycle (9-11 days) or around 48 h before the end of the synchronizing treatments. The major commercial products applied are equine Chorionic Gonadotrophin (eCG) or Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotrophin (PMSGT) and FSH. This review paper describes estrus synchronization, ovarian superovulation as well as the normal physiology of estrous cycle and ovulation in goats. © 2008 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Effect of sperm insemination duration on in vitro fertilisation (IVF) performance in goats

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sperm insemination duration during in vitro fertilisation (IVF) on the cleavage rate of goat embryos. Goat oocytes were retrieved through the slicing of ovaries obtained from abattoir and laparoscopic oocyte pick-up (LOPU). For In vitro maturation (IVM), the collected cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were matured and then incubated overnight in CO 2(5%) incubator at 38.5 °C for 24-27 hr (abattoir source) or 18-21 hr (LOPU source). Oocytes were partially denuded and co-incubated with post-thawed sperm with concentration of 1×10 6 sperm/ml. After 8-14 hr or 1824 hr of insemination, in vitro culture (IVC) of presumptive zygotes were further incubated in CO 2 (5%) incubator at 38.5°C for preimplantation embryonic development. The cleavage of the embryos was observed and recorded daily under inverted microscope. The fertilisation rate with insemination duration of 8-14 hr (39.82%) was higher than that with 18-24 hr (33.59%); however, there was no significant difference (P&gt;0.05) between 2 groups of insemination durations. There was significant (P&lt;0.05) decrease as the embryo developmental stages increased. Generally, the embryo developmental rates of all stages for insemination durations of 8-14 hr were higher than that of 18-24 hr, which were 49.36 vs. 27.92%; 33.77 vs. 22.29%; 7.32 vs. 2.08% and 0.56 vs. 0.00% for 2-, 4-, 8-cell and morula, respectively. In conclusion, shorter insemination duration may be needed to improve the IVF performance in goats

In vitro maturation of oocytes with special reference to goat: a review

Oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) is an Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) that enables mature oocytes to be generated ex vivo. In vitro production (IVP) of embryos is currently the central focus in livestock industry including goat industry. For any successful IVP program in goat and other livestock, artificial removal of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) from antral follicles and culturing them in essentially standard cell culture conditions or IVM until the maturity is a primary requirement. Therefore, it is very important two know what changes really occur to goat oocytes during IVM. As with in vivo, goat oocytes must undergo both nuclear and ooplasmic maturation for normal fertilization and embryonic development when cultured in vitro. Various locally produced factors work as co-regulators of folliculogenesis and oocyte nuclear and ooplasmic maturation in addition to extrinsic regulation by gonadotrophins and metabolic hormones. Cumulus cells (CCs) surrounding the oocyte play an important role in IVM. The morphology of the cumulus investment is commonly used as selection criteria prior to IVM which greatly influence to the maturity of goat oocytes. Embryo development is also influenced by the events occurring during oocyte maturation. Therefore, it is essential to know those events occurring during goat oocyte maturation in vitro. Various factors such as follicle size; follicular fluid or cells; hormones, serum, growth factors or vitamins in the IVM medium, age of the donor goat and the culture conditions are involved for successful IVM of goat oocytes. The current review describes the criteria and factors affecting maturation of goat oocytes in vitro. © 2011 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Recovery and grading of goat oocytes with special reference to laparoscopic ovum pick-up technique: a review

Oocytes are the main raw materials for in vitro embryo production (IVP) experiments. Therefore, the success of any IVP program in goat production, either in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) largely depends on the continuous supply of quality oocytes in optimum quantity. A number of methods are currently used for oocyte recovery (OR) from live or slaughtered goats. Although, abattoir is the most easy and cheapest source of oocytes, however, in certain countries especially in Malaysia, abattoir source is extremely limited due to low slaughtering activities as a consequence of shortage of breeding stock. In Malaysia normally older goats or goats those are culled for breeding are slaughtered for meat. Therefore, the quality of oocytes recovered from ovaries of these goats is generally lower. On the contrary, OR from live goats using laparoscopic ovum pick-up (LOPU) technique provides many advantages, for example, OR can be repeated 3-5 times in the same goat at interval as short as a week or less, OR can be done in prepubertal and aged goats, if prepubertal goat is used for OR then generation intervals will be reduced, LOPU coupled with IVP can become an efficient method of early propagation of valuable goats and LOPU can overcome limitations frequently associated with multiple ovulation-embryo transfer (MOET). Therefore, LOPU can be an alternative and efficient OR method in goat not only for Malaysia but also for other countries. The current study will discuss oocyte recovery methods with special reference to LOPU and grading of recovered oocytes in goats. © 2011 Asian Network for Scientific.Information