Development of interspecies cloned embryos in yak and dog.
Interspecies nuclear transfer (NT) could be an alternative to replicate animals when supply of recipient oocytes is limited or in vitro embryo production systems are incomplete. In the present study, embryonic development was assessed following interspecies NT of donor cumulus cells derived from yak and dog into the recipient ooplasm of domestic cow. The percentages of fusion and subsequent embryo development to the eight-cell stage of interspecies NT embryos were comparable to those of intraspecies NT embryos (cow-cow NT embryos). The percentage of development to blastocysts was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in yak-cow NT embryos than that in cow-cow NT embryos (10.9% vs. 39.8%). In dog-cow NT embryos, only one embryo (0.4%) developed to the blastocyst stage. These results indicate that interspecies NT embryos possess equally developmental competence to the eight-cell stage as intraspecies NT embryos, but the development to blastocysts is very low when dog somatic cells are used as the donor nuclei.
Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan.
Masao
M
Murakami
Takeshige
T
Otoi
Pimprapar
P
Wongsrikeao
Budiyanto
B
Agung
Rentsenkhand
R
Sambuu
Tatsuyuki
T
Suzuki
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D019976:Cloning, Organism; D004285:Dogs; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D013045:Species Specificity