In vitro production of embryos at Research and Development Station for Cattle Breeding Dancu, Iasi – first bovine embryos produced in vitro in North-Eastern Romania
The in vitro production (IVP)
of bovine embryos increases the selection
intensity in cattle and reduces the generation
interval, which is very important in the
genetic gain. In Romania, this reproductive
biotechnology has shown a timid evolution
in the last years, although the need for
genetic improvement in the area is present.
The aim of this paper is to describe the work
that resulted in first bovine embryos
obtained through IVP in North-Eastern
Romania. Oocytes were collected by
slashing ovaries from slaughtered cows,
matured in a TCM199-based medium and
fertilized in TL-based medium microdrops
with sperm processed by swim-up
procedure. The presumptive embryos were
cultured one day in TCM199 and 8 days in
SOF-based medium and evaluated in days 7,
8 and 9 after fertilization. We retrieved an
average number of 83 usable oocytes/IVF
session, which represents 73.8% from the
total harvested oocytes. The average number
of cleaved embryos was 50.8 per IVF,
reflecting an average cleavage rate of
61.2%. An average of 8.6 blastocysts/IVF
session was obtained, representing 10.4% of
the selected oocytes or 16.9% of the number
of cleaved embryos. Although suboptimal,
the results were comparable with other
reports on IVP in cattle. The adapted IVP
protocol, based on maturation with
TCM199, fertilization in microdrops of TL
and culture of presumptive embryos one day
in TCM199 and afterwards in SOF seems to
offer acceptable results and will be used for
further attempts to produce bovine embryos
