title: Vitrification of boer goat morulae and early blastocysts by straw and open-pulled straw method.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different vitrification solutions [EFS30 or EFS40 contains 30% (v/v) ethylene glycol (EG), 40% (v/v) EG; EDFS30 or EDFS40 contains 15% (v/v) EG and 15% (v/v) dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 20% (v/v) EG and 20% (v/v) DMSO], equilibrium time during vitrification (0.5-2.5 min) and vitrification protocols [one-step straw, two-step straw and open-pulled straw (OPS)] on in vivo development of vitrified Boer goat morulae and blastocysts after embryo transfer. In the one-step straw method, the lambing rates of vitrified embryos in EFS30 (37.5%), EFS40 (40.5%) or EDFS30 (38.2%) group were similar to that of fresh embryos (57.5%) and conventional freezing method (46.7%) when the equilibrium time was 2 min. In the two-step straw method, the highest lambing rate was obtained when embryos were pretreated with 10% EG for 5 min and then exposed to EFS40 for 2 min (51.4%), showing similar lambing rates compared with fresh embryos (56.1%) or the embryos cryopreserved by conventional freezing method (45.2%). In the OPS method, the lambing rate in EFS40, EDFS30 or EDFS40 groups were similar to that (57.1%) of fresh embryos, or to that (46.0%) of embryos cryopreserved by conventional freezing method. The highest lambing rate (51.4%) of the group of OPS was obtained when the embryos were vitrified with EDFS30. In conclusion, either the two-step straw method in which embryos were pretreated in 10% EG for 5 min and then exposed to EFS40 for 2 min, or the OPS method in which embryos were pretreated in 10% EG + 10% DMSO for 30 s and then exposed to EDFS30 for 25 s was a simple and efficient method for the vitrification of Boer goat morulae and blastocysts.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Q-H
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: S-J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: S-E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: J-Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: C-L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: X-M
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: G-S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: S-M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology*; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000662:veterinary*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D006041:Goats / Q000196:embryology*; D008297:Male; D009028:Morula / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000662:veterinary; D018873:Pregnancy Rate
chemical_list: D003451:Cryoprotective Agents