Laboratory production of buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) embryos

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in large-scale in vitroproduction (IVP) of buffalo embryos through in vitromaturation (IVM), fertilization (IVF) and culture (IVC) of oocytes for fastermultiplication of superior germplasm. The recovery of total and usable qualityoocytes from slaughterhouse ovaries is low in this species. The nuclearmaturation rates of buffalo oocytes matured in the presence of follicularfluid or serum and hormones like luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulatinghormone and oestradiol vary from 70 to 80% and are comparable to thosereported for cattle oocytes. However, with fertilization rates of40-55%, and the yield of blastocysts at around10-15%, the efficiency of IVP is much lower than that in cattle.The in vitro sperm preparation procedures and thesystems employed for performing IVF and culture of zygotes up to blastocyststage are suboptimal and need substantial improvements. The quality andviability of blastocysts produced need to be checked by cell count, and aftertransfer to synchronized recipients, for development of quality controlstandards.