In Vitro Bovine Embryo Production: The Role of FCS and Cysteamine on Cleavage Rate

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Cysteamine (C) and Fetal Calf Serum (FCS) on cleavage rates in bovine embryo production. The oocytes were obtained from the slaughtered ovaries by slicing method. They were selected and divided into two groups and maturated in TCM and TCM+Cysteamine for 24 hour at 38.8ºC in atmosphere of 5% CO₂ in humidified air. The matured oocytes were transferred to IVF-TALP and allowed to fertilize with frozen bull semen to be 400-600x10^3/well which were washed with Sperm-TALP in an incubator containing 5% CO₂ for 18-22 hours at 38.8ºC. At the end of this period, the embryos of each group which were denuded by vortexing transferred to Synthetic Oviduct Fluid (SOF) and Charles and Rosenkrans (CR1) media to be developed. These culture media were divided into 4 subgroups according to whether they contain Cysteamine (C) and Fetal Calf Serum (FCS). For this reason Group A1: (SOF C+F+), Group A2: (SOF C+F-), Group A3: (SOF C-F+), Group A4: (SOF C-F-), Group B1: (CR1 C+F+), Group B2: (CR1 C+F-), Group B3: (CR1 C-F+), Group B4: (CR1 C-F-) were formed. Embryos were cultured in an incubator containing 5% CO₂, 5% N₂ and 90% humidity at 38.8ºC for 48 hours. At the end of this period, the clevage rate of the embryos were recorded and there was no statistical difference (P<0.05) between all groups.