The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) on porcine embryos and their receptor sows during the first 21 days of pregnancy. Hatched blastocysts exposed to 10(5.0) TCID50 PCV2 per ml (strain 1121, fifth passage PK15) and negative control embryos were transferred to PCV2-immune receptor sows at the 7th day of the cycle. Two weeks after transfer (D2...

In two series of experiments, two D6 morulae were surgically transferred either to each uterine horn of recipient ewes or to the same horn. When embryos were transferred to each side, the percentages of lambs born were not significantly different (68 and 62.5% respectively) whether the corpora lutea of recipient ewes were on each ovary or on the same ovary (in this case, embryos were transferre...

BACKGROUND A biochemical marker for embryo development would increase the chance of a successful pregnancy with IVF by optimizing oocyte and embryo selection, and allow fewer embryos to be transferred. In this study, we correlated cumulus granulosa cell gene expression of hyaluronic acid synthase 2 (HAS2), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2; PTGS2) and gremlin (GREM1) with subsequent embryo development in ...

Background: The chick embryo is a classical model to study embryonic development. However, most researchers have not studied the effect of embryonic manipulation on chick hatchability. To determine the effect of egg orientation and type of sealing film on the hatchability of cultured embryos, and to determine the fate of adulte stem cells injected into the blastoderm. Materials and Methods: Win...

The present study was conducted to examine the development of nuclear transplant embryos produced by transplanting nuclei to either oocytes or zygotes in the mouse. Metaphase II oocytes and one-cell zygotes were enucleated and fused with transferred nuclei from late two-, four- and eight-cell stage embryos. Enucleation of metaphase oocytes was achieved using the interference microscope without ...

Background: It was reported in a literature that approximately one third of the 4-cell stage embryos did not exhibit a tetrahedral shape. Non-tetrahedral embryos showed a lower in vitro developmental potential than tetrahedral embryos. Recently vitrification technology has been widely employed for embryo cryopreservation. The objective of this study was to prove our hypothesis that vitrified - ...

The present study was conducted to examine the development of nucLear transplant embryos produced by transplanting nucLei to either oocytes or zygotes in the mouse. Metaphase II oocytes and one-cell zygotes were enucleated and fused with transferred nuclei from late two-, fourand eight-cell stage embryos. Enucleation of metaphase oocytes was achieved using the interference microscope without st...

There has been a considerable improvement in the media available for the culture of preimplantation mouse embryos during the 40 years since mouse embryos were first cultured and successfully transferred to uterine foster mothers. Two new media, KSOM and mMTF, are becoming more commonly used. The history of the development of these media, including recent work on KSOM and mMTF, is reviewed. A ma...

The presence of multinuclear blastomeres (MNB) has been widely reported in in-vitro-cultured embryos. Multinucleation at the first mitotic division and affecting both blastomeres is considered abnormal and such embryos are not transferred. The objective of this study was to use fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) and probes specific for chromosomes X, Y and 18 to examine the genetic consti...