Production of chimeric calves by aggregation of in vitro-fertilized bovine embryos without zonae pellucidae

Testes of DAZL null neonatal sheep lack prospermatogonia but maintain normal somatic cell morphology and marker expression

Multiplying the germline would increase the number of offspring that can be produced from selected animals, accelerating genetic improvement for livestock breeding. This could be achieved by producing multiple chimaeric animals, each carrying a mix of donor and host germ cells in their gonads. However, such chimaeric germlines would produce offspring from both donor and host genotypes, limiting the rate of genetic improvement. To resolve this problem, we disrupted the RNA-binding protein DAZL and generated germ cell-deficient host animals. Using Cas9-mediated homology-directed repair (HDR), we introduced a DAZL loss-of-function mutation in male ovine fetal fibroblasts. Following manual single cell isolation, 4/48 (8.3%) of donor cell strains were homozygously HDR-edited. Sequence-validated strains were used as nuclear donors for somatic cell cloning to generate three lambs, which died at birth. All DAZL null male neonatal sheep lacked germ cells on histological sections and showed greatly reduced germ cell markers. Somatic cells within their testes were morphologically intact and expressed normal levels of lineage-specific markers, suggesting that the germ cell niche remained intact. This extends the DAZL mutant phenotype beyond mice into agriculturally relevant ruminants, providing a pathway for using absolute germline transmitters in rapid livestock improvement.

Embryo Aggregation Promotes Derivation Efficiency of Outgrowths from Porcine Blastocysts

Porcine embryonic stem cells (pESCs) have become an advantageous experimental tool for developing therapeutic applications and producing transgenic animals. However, despite numerous reports of putative pESC lines, deriving validated pESC lines from embryos produced in vitro remains difficult. Here, we report that embryo aggregation was useful for deriving pESCs from in vitro-produced embryos. Blastocysts derived from embryo aggregation formed a larger number of colonies and maintained cell culture stability. Our derived cell lines demonstrated expression of pluripotent markers (alkaline phosphatase, Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog), an ability to form embryoid bodies, and the capacity to differentiate into the three germ layers. A cytogenetic analysis of these cells revealed that all lines derived from aggregated blastocysts had normal female and male karyotypes. These results demonstrate that embryo aggregation could be a useful technique to improve the efficiency of deriving ESCs from in vitro-fertilized pig embryos, studying early development, and deriving pluripotent ESCs in vitro in other mammals.

In vitro development and cell allocation of porcine blastocysts derived by aggregation of in vitro fertilized embryos

In pigs, the morphology and cell number of in vitro-produced blastocysts are inferior to those of their in vivo counterparts. The objective of this study was to increase developmental competence and to gain an understanding of cell allocation in blastocysts derived from the aggregation of four-cell stage porcine embryos produced in vitro. After removal of the zona pellucida, two (2x) and three (3x) four-cell stage embryos were aggregated by co-culturing them in aggregation plates. Five days after aggregation, the developmental ability and the number of cells in the aggregated embryos were determined. The percentage of blastocysts was higher (P < 0.05) in both the 2x and 3x aggregated embryos (66.6% and 72.0%, respectively) compared to that of the 1x embryos and the intact controls (43.1% and 36.4%, respectively). The total cell number of blastocysts also increased in aggregated embryos compared to that of intact controls (2.6-fold for 2x and 3.4-fold for 3x) (P < 0.05). The cells of two differentially stained embryos were started to mix at 72 hr after aggregation. In vitro-fertilized porcine aggregates (2x) were developed to blastocyst with a random distribution of cells from each embryo. The mRNA levels for the oct-4, bcl-xL and connexin 43 genes were higher (P < 0.05) and bak gene were lower (P < 0.05) in both the 2x and 3x aggregated embryos than the intact controls. Therefore, the aggregation of the four-cell stage embryos could be used to improve the quality of porcine preimplantation stage embryos produced in vitro.

Improving successful pregnancies after embryo transfer

Over the past 20 years the rate of blastocyst development in vitro has improved through the development of sequential defined media, refining the oxygen concentrations during culture and providing substrates to ameliorate free radical accumulation. Despite these advances there has been little progress in improving calving rates after the transfer of in vitro produced embryos. This suggests that the culture conditions have been very effective in enabling those fertilised oocytes to reach the blastocyst stage that otherwise would not occur in vivo. We suggest that the next advance by which the embryo transfer technology gains more acceptance in cattle production will be identifying those cows which are intrinsically superior recipients. This must be coupled to the development of non-invasive assessments of the developmental competence of both the oocyte and the blastocyst. Until these two goals are achieved the ET industry will remain static and unable to overcome the economic loss caused by embryo mortality occurring 7-10 days after transfer.

Offspring born from chimeras reconstructed from parthenogenetic and in vitro fertilized bovine embryos

Chimeric embryos were produced by aggregation of parthenogenetic (Japanese Red breed) and in vitro fertilized (Holstein breed) bovine embryos at the Yamaguchi Research Station in Japan and by aggregation of parthenogenetic (Red Angus breed) and in vitro fertilized (Holstein breed) embryos at the St. Gabriel Research Station in Louisiana. After embryo reconstruction, live offspring were produced at each station from transplanting these embryos. The objective of this joint study was to evaluate the developmental capacity of reconstructed parthenogenetic and in vitro fertilized bovine embryos. In experiment I, chimeric embryos were constructed: by aggregation of four 8-cell (demi-embryo) parthenogenetic and four 8-cell stage (demi-embryo) IVF-derived blastomeres (method 1) and by aggregation of a whole parthenogenetic embryo (8-cell stage) and a whole IVF-derived embryo (8-cell stage) (method 2). Similarly in experiment II, chimeric embryos were constructed by aggregating IVF-derived blastomeres with parthenogenetic blastomeres. In this experiment, three categories of chimeric embryos with different parthenogenetic IVF-derived blastomere ratios (2:6; 4:4, and 6:2) were constructed from 8-cell stage bovine embryos. In experiment III, chimeric embryos composed of four 8-cell parthenogenetic and two 4-cell IVF-derived blastomeres or eight 16-cell parthenogenetic and four 8-cell IVF-derived blastomeres were constructed. Parthenogenetic demi-embryos were aggregated with sexed (male) IVF demi-embryos to produce chimeric blastocysts (experiment IV). In the blastocyst stage, hatching and hatched embryos were karyotyped. In experiment V, chimeric embryos that developed to blastocysts (zona-free) were cryopreserved in ethylene glycol (EG) plus trehalose (T) with different concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP; 5%, 7.5%, and 10%). In experiment I, the aggregation rate of the reconstructed demi-embryos cultured in vitro without agar embedding was significantly lower than with agar embedding (53% for 0% agar, 93% for 1% agar, and 95% for 1.2% agar, respectively). The aggregation was also lower when the aggregation resulted from a whole parthenogenetic and IVF-derived embryos cultured without agar than when cultured with agar (70% for 0% agar, 94% for 1% agar, and 93% for 1.2% agar, respectively). The development rate to blastocysts, however, was not different among the treatments. In experiment II, the developmental rates to the morula and blastocyst stages were 81%, 89%, and 28% for the chimeric embryos with parthenogenetic:IVF blastomere ratios of 2:6, 4:4, and 6:2, respectively. In experiment III, the developmental rate to the morula and blastocyst stages was 60% and 65% for the two 4-cell and four 8-cell chimeric embryos compared with 10% for intact 8-cell parthenogenetic embryos and 15% for intact 16-cell parthenogenetic embryos. To verify participation of parthenogenetic and the cells derived from the male IVF embryos in blastocyst formation, 51 embryos (hatching and hatched) were karyotyped, resulting in 27 embryos having both XX and XY chromosome plates in the same sample, 14 embryos with XY and 10 embryos with XX. The viability and the percentage of zona-free chimeric embryos at 24 hr following cryopreservation in EG plus T with 10% PVP were significantly greater than those cryopreserved without PVP (89% vs. 56%). Pregnancies were diagnosed in both stations after the transfer of chimeric blastocysts. Twin male (stillbirths) and single chimeric calves were delivered at the Yamaguchi station, with each having both XX and XY chromosomes detected. Three pregnancies resulted from the transferred 40 chimeric embryos at the Louisiana station. Two pregnancies were lost prior to 4 months and one phenotypically-chimeric viable male calf was born. We conclude that the IVF-derived blastomeres were able to stimulate the development of bovine parthenogenetic blastomeres and that the chimeric parthenogenetic bovine embryos were developmentall

Effects of centrifugation and lipid removal on the cryopreservation of in vitro produced bovine embryos at the eight-cell stage

The effects of intracellular lipid polarization and lipid removal treatments on the postthawed in vitro development of frozen bovine embryos at the 8-cell stage were studied. As the first step, bovine presumptive zygotes were centrifuged at 16,000 g for 20 min for the cytoplasmic lipid polarization and their lipid layers were removed by micromanipulation in order to examine the influence of these treatments on the developmental capacity of bovine zygotes. As the second step, bovine embryos developed to the 8-cell stage following centrifugation treatment at various forces (8000, 12,000, and 16,000 g) or lipid removal treatment at the 1-cell stage were frozen in 1.8 M ethylene glycol + 0.05 M trehalose supplemented with 5% polyvinylpyrrolidone in a one-step procedure. There were no significant differences among the control (nontreatment), lipid-polarized, and lipid-removed groups with respect to the developmental capacity of fresh nonfrozen zygotes (experiment 1). The rates of survival and development to the blastocyst of frozen-thawed 8-cell embryos increased slightly with increasing force of centrifugation (experiment 2). The rate of development into blastocysts of the frozen-thawed 8-cell embryos was significantly higher in the groups that underwent centrifugation (at 16,000 g for 20 min; P < 0.05) or lipid removal (P < 0.01) treatments than the control (intact) group. However, there were no significant differences among the groups with respect to the rate of development to the expanded/hatched blastocyst stage. In addition, the mean cell numbers of embryos developed into blastocysts (day 8) derived from frozen-thawed 8-cell embryos tended to be low in the centrifugation and lipid removal groups compared to the controls (experiment 3). These results suggest that although the centrifugation with or without lipid removal treatments has no detrimental effects on the developmental capacity of bovine zygotes, the freezing tolerance of bovine 8-cell embryos was not improved by these treatments.

The effect of sperm-oocyte incubation time on in vitro embryo development using sperm from a tetraparental chimeric bull

The present study was designed as 5 x 4 factorial to investigate the effects of using sperm from 5 bulls, and varied sperm-oocyte incubation times (5, 10, 15 and 20 h) on the fertilization, cleavage rates and blastocyst formation on an in vitro bovine embryo production system. The bulls included a tetraparental Chimera, its sires (Japanese Black and Limousin), its maternal grand-sires (Japanese Brown and Holstein). The proportion of polyspermy, 2-pronuclei formation, fertilization, cleavage and development to blastocyst were affected (P < 0.001) by the duration of sperm-oocyte incubation, as well as by the interaction between bulls and their corresponding sperm-oocyte incubation time. Blastocyst rate observed after 5 h in oocytes inseminated with Chimera, Japanese Black and Limousin were higher (p < 0.05) than those observed at 20 h incubation. The proportion of blastocysts from oocytes inseminated with Japanese Black observed at 10 h of incubation did not differ from that of Chimera, but both were higher (p < 0.05) than those observed for the Limousin, Japanese Brown and Holstein sires. The present study showed that there was an effect by the duration of sperm-oocyte incubation on in vitro embryo development. The optimal time of sperm-oocyte incubation for the Chimera was similar to that of its sires (Japanese Black and Limousin) but differed from its maternal grand-sires (Japanese Brown and Holstein). The fertilization rates for the sperm from the Holstein bull increased up to 15 h suggesting that this might be the only bull that would benefit from a long incubation period for insemination.

Fertility of sperm from a tetraparental chimeric bull

The purpose of the present study was to examine the ability of a tetraparental Chimera in producing IVF embryos. Cumulus oocytes complexes (COCs) were matured in vitro for 22 h. Frozen-thawed sperm of a Chimera (CH), as well as Japanese Black (JB), Limousin (L), Japanese Brown (JBr), Holstein (H) bulls were used for IVF. The chromosome preparations were made from peripheral lymphocytes. Based on chromosome analysis the Chimera had apparently normal chromosomes (29 acrocentric pairs, one large sub metacentric X chromosome and one small sub metacentric Y chromosome). The proportion of acrosome reacted spermatozoa after 1 h incubation was higher (P < 0.01) with the Chimera (CH) than with the Holstein and in Japanese Brown bulls, but did not differ from Japanese Black and Limousin bull sperm (79.0%, 71.2%, 72.5%, 57.8% and 57.0% for CH, JB, L, JBr and H sperm, respectively). Fertilization rates observed after 5 h of sperm-oocyte incubation with Chimera (O-CH) sperm were higher (P < 0.05) than with Japanese Brown (O-JBr) and (P < 0.01) than with Holstein (O-H) sperm, but did not differ from Japanese Black (O-JB) and Limousin (O-L) sperm (36/44, 81.8%; 28/35, 80.0%; 25/36, 69.4%; 19/43, 44.2% and 6/33, 18.2% for O-CH, O-JB, O-L, O-JBr and O-H, respectively). The cleavage rates of IVM oocytes inseminated with Chimera sperm were also higher (P < 0.001) than in Holstein, (P < 0.01) Japanese Brown and (P < 0.05) Limousin, but did not differ from Japanese Black sperm (181/239, 75.7%; 123/171, 71.9%; 108/186, 58.1%; 80/196, 40.8% and 30/186, 16.1% for O-CH, O-JB, O-L, O-JBr and O-H, respectively). The blastocyst rates of IVM oocytes inseminated with sperm were higher (P < 0.05) than in Limousin, Japanese Brown and Holstein, but did not differ from Japanese Black (69/181, 38.1%; 48/123, 39.0%; 27/108, 25.0%; 7/30, 23.3% and 16/80, 17.8% for O-CH, O-JB, O-L, O-JBr and O-H, respectively). Three findings suggested the sperm from this tetraparental Chimeric bull were able to be used for producing bovine IVF embryos.