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Vertebrate reproductive science and technology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Recovery of fertility from adult ovarian tissue transplanted into week-old Japanese quail chicks

Jianan Liu A B , Kimberly M. Cheng A and Frederick G. Silversides B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.

B Agassiz Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Agassiz, BC V0M 1A0, Canada.

C Corresponding author. Email: fred.silversides@hotmail.com

Reproduction, Fertility and Development 27(2) 281-284 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD13256
Submitted: 10 August 2013  Accepted: 30 September 2013   Published: 25 October 2013

Abstract

Fertility of cryopreserved ovarian tissue from immature chickens and Japanese quail has been recovered by transplantation. This is of special importance for non-mammalian vertebrates in which cryopreservation and in vitro maturation of oocytes are challenging because their oogenesis is characterised by vitellogenesis. This study tested whether fertility of adult quail ovarian tissue could be recovered by transplantation. Ovaries were isolated from mature Japanese quail hens, trimmed, cut into 3- to 4-mm2 pieces and transplanted into ovariectomised, week-old chicks. Recipients were administered an immunosuppressant for two weeks. Ten of 12 recipients survived until sexual maturity and seven laid eggs, but all stopped laying by 17 weeks of age. The age at first egg of recipients laying eggs (75.7 ± 4.2 days) was greater than that of untreated hens (51.8 ± 1.7 days) and egg production of recipients during the laying period (21.7 ± 5.7) was less than that of untreated hens (60.8 ± 3.5). Recipients were paired with males from the WB line for test mating. Only two hens laid eggs during the test period but both produced 100% donor-derived offspring. This research demonstrated that the reproductive potential of ovarian tissue from adult quail hens can be restored by transplantation.

Additional keywords: avian species, genetic conservation, transplantation.


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