Compensation of the growth and development of individually transferred bovine bisected embryos

SCHILD E; YNSAURRALDE-RIVOLTA AE; LOPEZ-VALIENTE S; MARESCA S; RODRIGUEZ AM; MUNAR C; HERNANDEZ-MAIZÓN D; BOSETTI N; CURTI M; JACA JI; BEVACQUA R; ROGBERG MUÑOZ A; SALAMONE D

Bangkok

Conferencia; Annual Conference of the International Embryo Technology Society; 2018

IETS

Embryo bisection has been used in cattle for decades to multiply embryos making artificial twins. Recent articles assert that each bisected twin (or hemi-embryo) continues its growth and differentiation without regenerating the original number of cells, producing smaller embryos. This sizes difference has been verified until day 17, where embryo has already elongated. The objective of this research was to evaluate fetal morphometric differences between embryos and hemi-embryos during intrauterine period and at birth. For this purpose, 6 Angus cows were superovulated using FSH/LH protocol (Pluset®, Hertape Calier) and all were artificial inseminated with the sire? Las Lilas 1931 Líder Max?. At day 7 post artificial insemination, 45 embryos were recovered following a non-surgical technique. In the laboratory, 30 of them were bisected under a stereoscopic magnifier using a portable micromanipulator with a microscale attached. Each hemi-embryo (N = 60) and the remaining integer embryos (N = 15, used as controls) were immediately transferred individually to a recipient. The growth of the fetuses was ultrasonographical evaluated using a Esaote Aquila Pro vet ultrasound. Transrectal measurements were performed at 60 and 90 days recording femur length (only at 60 days), biparietal distance, abdominal and umbilical cord diameter. At birth animals were weight, measured for length and height, whereas the circumference of the skull, thorax, abdomen, and metatarsus, were recorded. Data was analyzed by the T-test implemented in InfoStat Version 1.1 software. Table 1 shows the average and standard deviation of all measurements performed. No significant differences (P