Hillyear, LM, Zak, LJ, Beckitt, T, Griffin, DK, Harvey, Simon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7504-2227 and Harvey, KE (2024) Morphokinetic profiling suggests that rapid first cleavage division accurately predicts the chances of blastulation in pig in vitro produced embryos. Animals, 14 (5):783. pp. 1-12. ISSN 2076-2615 (Online) (doi:10.3390/ani14050783)

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Abstract

The study of pig preimplantation embryo development has several potential uses: from agri-culture to the production of medically relevant genetically modified organisms; from rare breed conservation to acting as a physiologically relevant model for progressing human and other (e.g., endangered) species’ in vitro fertilisation technology. Despite this, barriers to the widespread adoption of pig embryo in vitro production include lipid-laden cells that are hard to visualise, slow adoption of contemporary technologies such as the use of time-lapse incubators or artificial in-telligence, poor blastulation and high polyspermy rates. Here, we employ a commercially available time-lapse incubator to provide a comprehensive overview of the morphokinetics of pig preimplantation development for the first time. We tested the hypotheses that a) there are dif-ferences in developmental timings between blastulating and non-blastulating embryos, and b) embryo developmental morphokinetic features can be used to predict the likelihood of blastula-tion. Abattoir-derived oocytes fertilised by commercial extended semen produced presumptive zygotes were split into two groups: cavitating/blastulating 144 hours post gamete co-incubation, and those not. The blastulating group reached the 2-cell and morula stages significantly earlier and the time taken to reach the 2-cell stage was identified to be a predictive marker for blastocyst formation. Reverse cleavage was also associated with poor blastulation. These data demonstrate the potential of morphokinetic analysis in automating and upscaling pig in vitro production through effective embryo selection.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article belongs to the Special Issue Early Embryo Development in Agricultural Animals.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	blastocyst; morphokinetics; pig; predictive parameters; time-lapse
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) T Technology > T Technology (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science
Last Modified:	06 Mar 2024 13:32
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/46103

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