Interspecies Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer for In Vitro Production of Antarctic Minke Whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) Embryos

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the developmental ability of the whale embryos with interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in comparison with bovine or porcine SCNT embryos and parthenotes. There were no significant differences among the proportions of pseud-pronucleus (PPN) formation of whale SCNT oocytes, intraspecies SCNT oocytes and parethenotes. Furthermore, no significant difference was found in the cleavage rates of whale SCNT embryos between 6-dimethylaminopurin (DMAP) and cycloheximide (CHX) as secondary activation treatments. In effects of different donor cell types (viable or non-viable cells) on whale SCNT embryos, there was no significant difference in the cleavage rates of whale SCNT embryos between the two cell types. Two-to four-cell stages of whale SCNT embryos were obtained, but none of the embryos reached the blastocyst stage. The cleaved whale embryos were confirmed to have whale genomic DNA. From the results, it was shown that both bovine and porcine oocyte cytoplasms have the potential to form PPN and to produce cleaved whale interspecies SCNT embryos, regardless of the survivability of donor cells.

Production of Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) Cloned Embryos by Inter- and Intra-Species Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

“…Nevertheless, our study confirmed the presence of sei whale DNA in one 6-cell iSCNT embryo, which is considered a desirable phenomenon. In our previous study, the 4-cell stage was the maximum level of development obtained in Antarctic minke whale iSCNT embryos, and the presence of whale DNA was confirmed in samples derived from pooled 2-to 4-cell stage embryos [10]. In the present investigation, the maximum level of development of the whale SCNT (whale-whale) embryos was the 8-cell stage, in which the presence of whale DNA was also confirmed by PCR.…”

“…56: [131][132][133][134][135][136][137][138][139] 2010) esearch on in vitro maturation (IVM), in vitro fertilization (IVF), somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and in vitro culture (IVC) of whale embryos will greatly contribute to our basic understanding of whale reproductive physiology, resulting, ideally, in the application of various assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to increase the population and aid in management of cetaceans. Several studies on ARTs with respect to IVM [1][2][3][4][5][6], cryopreservation of oocytes [2,5,7], IVF [3,8], intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) [5,6,9] and interspecies SCNT [10] have been conducted in Common minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and Antarctic minke (B. bonaerensis) whales. Recently, we attempted for the first time to produce embryos of sei (B. borealis) whales by IVF of IVM oocytes in a research based ship [11].…”

“…Both techniques have successfully produced viable cloned offspring in different animals including pigs [16][17][18]. Accordingly, an attempt was made to produce iSCNT embryos of Antarctic minke whales using bovine and porcine recipient oocytes by the non-fusion technique, but this attempt failed to produce any blastocysts [10]. There has been no report on the production of sei whale SCNT embryos by either these techniques.…”

Attempt at Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection of In Vitro Matured Oocytes in Common Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) Captured During the Kushiro Coast Survey

“…Over the last decade, we have attempted IVM, IVF/ICSI and IVC in an effort to produce minke whale blastocysts; however, no blastocysts has been obtained to date. Ikumi et al [18] attempted interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer between Antarctic minke whale donor cells and in vitro matured, enucleated bovine or porcine oocytes, but they were unable to produce any blactosysts although they did obtain 2-and 4-cell cleaved whale embryos. The use of freshly collected oocytes from common minke whales captured during the Kushiro Coast Survey would be advantageous in terms of oocyte quality in comparison with oocytes derived from Antractic minke whales, which must be frozen or vitrified on the Research base ship for transport to the laboratory.…”

Increased Th1/Th2 (IFN-.GAMMA./IL-4) Cytokine mRNA Ratio of Rat Embryos in the Pregnant Mouse Uterus

“…So, interspecific SCNT (iSCNT) has been explored to produce cloned offspring, and usually includes interspecific somatic cell nuclear transfer and interspecific pregnancy. In previous research, the oocytes of bovine, sheep, and rabbits have been used for iSCNT, and interspecific reconstructed embryos have been obtained [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Interspecific r e c o n s t r u c t e d e m b r y o s c a n i m p l a n t i n t o interspecific uteri, but only three speices have been successfully cloned by iSCNT [14][15][16].…”