The Influence of Ewe Serum on in vitro Oocyte Maturation and Early Development of Ovine Embryos

Abstract

The experiments were carried out to study the influence of different sera on in vitro maturation and early development of ovine embryos. Sera used in this study were FLS (Fetal Lamb Serum), ewe serum collected on Day 0 (ES-DO) and Day 6 (ES-D6) of oestrus cycles. Ovine oocyte were ma-turd and cultured in TCM-199 supplemented with 10 % of different sera. Results of this experiment showed that supplementation of ES-DO or ES-D6 could support maturation rate (Metaphase-11) at 68.7% and 67.6%, respectively better than FLS (32.9%). The fertilization rate was significantly higher (pe0.01) in medium supplemented with either ES-DO or ES-D6 than FLS, (30.7%. 65.4%, and 65.8% for medium supplemented with FLS, ES-DO, and ES-D6, respectively). On the other hand the effect of ES-DO supplementation followed by ES-D6 on IVM and IVC yielded in embryos cleavage (47.6%) higher than those supplemented with ESD6 followed by ES-D6 (41.6%) and ES-DO followed by ESDO (28.7%). In conclusion, supplementation of ES-DO or ES-D6 into maturation and culture medium have given better results on both maturation rate and early embryonic development.