Author(s)

Mariana Groke Marques^1*, Flavia Regina Oliveira de Barros^2*, Marcelo Demarchi Goissis², Mariana Ianello Giassetti², Mayra Elena Ortiz D’Avila Assumpção², José Antonio Visintin^2*

¹EMBRAPA Swine and Poultry Research Center, Concordia, Brazil.
²Department of Animal Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In Vitro production of swine embryos is a valuable tool to generate clones and genetically modified pigs during a short period of time. However, the efficiency of the existing methods is extremely low and the oocyte quality and quantity represent important obstacles on the success of in Vitro production of embryos. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the in Vitro maturation, fertilization and subsequent embryo development rates of oocytes recovered by ovary slicing or follicular aspiration. The oocyte recovery rate (grade 1 COC/ovary) was higher (p = 0.0083) in the slicing group when compared to the aspiration group. No differences were observed between groups regarding in Vitro maturation and early cleavage rates. A higher percentage of oocytes recovered by follicular aspiration reached the blastocyst stage after IVF when compared to the ovary slicing method (p = 0.0395). However, no difference on blastocyst cell number was observed. Although the recovery of oocytes using the slicing technique yielded more grade 1 oocytes per ovary than the aspiration method, the number of oocytes that reached the blastocyst stage after IVF by the slicing method was lower when compared with oocytes obtained by aspiration, as observed by lower blastocyst rates. In conclusion, the follicular aspiration is the method of choice for porcine in Vitro embryo production.

Oocyte Recovery, Oocyte Maturation, HSP70, Embryo Development, Swine

Marques, M. , Barros, F. , Goissis, M. , Giassetti, M. , Assumpção, M. and Visintin, J. (2015) Effect of Oocyte Recovery Techniques on in Vitro Production of Swine Embryos. Open Journal of Animal Sciences, 5, 467-473. doi: 10.4236/ojas.2015.54048.