In vitro production of bovine embryos derived from individual donors in the Corral® dish

Maaike Catteeuw, Eline Wydooghe, Erik Mullaart, Hiemke M. Knijn, Ann Van Soom

Since the identity of the embryo is of outmost importance during commercial in vitro embryo production, bovine oocytes and embryos have to be cultured strictly per donor. Due to the rather low yield of oocytes collected after ovum pick-up (OPU) per individual cow, oocyte maturation and embryo culture take place in small groups, which is often associated with inferior embryo development. The objective of this study was to improve embryonic development in small donor groups by using the Corral(®) dish. This commercial dish is designed for human embryo production. It contains two central wells that are divided into quadrants by a semi-permeable wall. In human embryo culture, one embryo is placed per quadrant, allowing individual follow-up while embryos are exposed to a common medium. In our study, small groups of oocytes and subsequently embryos of different bovine donors were placed in the Corral(®) dish, each donor group in a separate quadrant. In two experiments, the Corral(®) dish was evaluated during in vitro maturation (IVM) and/or in vitro culture (IVC) by grouping oocytes and embryos of individual bovine donors per quadrant. At day 7, a significantly higher blastocyst rate was noted in the Corral(®) dish used during IVM and IVC than when only used during IVM (12.9% ± 2.10 versus 22.8% ± 2.67) (P < 0.05). However, no significant differences in blastocyst yield were observed anymore between treatment groups at day 8 post insemination. In the present study, the Corral(®) dish was used for in vitro embryo production (IVP) in cattle; allowing to allocate oocytes and/or embryos per donor. As fresh embryo transfers on day 7 have higher pregnancy outcomes, the Corral(®) dish offers an added value for commercial OPU/IVP, since a higher blastocyst development at day 7 is obtained when the Corral(®) dish is used during IVM and IVC.