title: Successful gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) in the porcine.
abstract: Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) was successfully established in the pig. In Experiment 1 (6 replicates) 234 oocytes (39 +/- 5.5 per recipient) plus spermatozoa (4000 to 8000 per oocyte) were transferred bilaterally into the oviducts of synchronized gilts, and embryos were recovered 48 h thereafter. The recovery rate was 50.4% and 50% of the recovered oocytes were fertilized. A total of 55 embryos was cultured in vitro in NCSU-medium for 48 h and 63.6% developed to morula or blastocyst stages. In Experiment 2 (5 replicates) 220 oocytes (44 +/- 4.9 per recipient) plus spermatozoa (4000 per oocyte) were transferred to 5 recipients which were allowed to go to term. Three gilts delivered 16 (n = 3, 5, 8) piglets. In Experiment 3 (5 replicates) 183 oocytes (36.6 +/- 1.2 per recipient) plus flow cytometry gender sorted spermatozoa (4000 per oocyte) were transferred to 5 recipients. The recovery rate was 47.8%, and 27.6% of the oocytes were fertilized. From all cleaved oocytes 45.8% developed to expanded blastocysts, with the number of blastomeres varying from 20 to 85 (38.3 +/- 22.5). These results indicate that the GIFT procedure can be used successfully in pigs, and can be a valuable tool for the study of gamete interaction as well as in the continued development of biotechnological procedures such as sex pre-determination.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Tierzucht und Tierverhalten, Mariensee (FAL), Neustadt, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rath
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Niemann