Effects of amino acid supplements and replacement of polyvinyl alcohol with bovine serum albumin in porcine zygote medium
Chie Suzuki A and Koji Yoshioka A BA Research Team for Production Diseases, National Institute of Animal Health, Kannondai 3-1-5, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0856, Japan.
B Corresponding author. Email: kojiyos@affrc.go.jp
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 18(7) 789-795 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD06032
Submitted: 12 April 2006 Accepted: 10 July 2006 Published: 15 September 2006
Abstract
The effects of glutamine, hypotaurine, taurine and premixed solutions of essential amino acids (EAA) and non-essential amino acids (NEAA) on in vitro development of porcine zygotes were evaluated. The effects of refreshing the medium and replacing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) on embryonic development were also investigated. Porcine zygotes produced by in vitro maturation (IVM) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) were cultured in porcine zygote medium (PZM), as the basal culture medium, for 5 days after IVF. The total number of cells in blastocysts was significantly increased by the addition of 2 mm glutamine to PZM, as was blastocyst yields after supplementation with 0.25 to 4 mm glutamine. Addition of 1.25 to 10 mm hypotaurine to PZM significantly increased blastocyst yields. Addition of 5 mm taurine to PZM significantly increased blastocyst yield, whereas taurine had no effect on blastocyst yield in cultures already containing 5 mm hypotaurine. Adding 1× EAA significantly increased the rate of blastocyst formation compared with no or 2× EAA, whereas 2× NEAA significantly increased the total cell numbers in blastocysts compared with no NEAA. Refreshing the medium at Day 3 had no effect on blastocyst yields, whereas medium change significantly reduced the total cell numbers in blastocysts. Adjusting the amino acid concentrations of a chemically defined medium can improve the developmental competence of porcine embryo.
Extra keywords: amino acid solution, glutamine, hypotaurine, in vitro culture, pig embryos.
Acknowledgment
This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan.
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