The assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) such as in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer, and cryopreservation of gametes have contributed considerably to the development of biomedical sciences in addition to improving infertility treatments in humans as well as the breeding of domestic animals. However, ARTs used in canine species have strictly limited utility when compared with other mammalian species, including humans. Although successful somatic cell cloning has been reported, artificial insemination by frozen semen to date is only available for the improved breeding and reproduction for companion and working dogs as well as guide dogs for the blind. We describe here the successful cryopreservation of embryos and subsequent embryo transfer in dogs. Canine embryos were collected from excised reproductive organs after artificial insemination and subsequently cryopreserved by a vitrification method. When the 4-cell to morula stage of cryopreserved embryos were nonsurgically transferred into the uteri of nine recipient bitches using a cystoscope, five recipients became pregnant and four of them delivered a total of seven pups. The cryopreservation of embryos in canine species will facilitate the transportation and storage of genetic materials and will aid in the elimination of vertically transmitted diseases in dogs. In addition, this technique will contribute to the improved breeding of companion and working dogs such as guide dogs, drug-detecting dogs, and quarantine dogs.
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6 October 2010
Cryopreservation of Canine Embryos
Yasuyuki Abe,
Yoshinori Suwa,
Tomoyoshi Asano,
Yoshiko Yanagimoto Ueta,
Nanae Kobayashi,
Natsumi Ohshima,
Saori Shirasuna,
Mohammed Ali Abdel-Ghani,
Maya Oi,
Yoshiyasu Kobayashi,
Masafumi Miyoshi,
Kazuro Miyahara,
Hiroshi Suzuki
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Biology of Reproduction
Vol. 84 • No. 2
February 2011
Vol. 84 • No. 2
February 2011
dog
embryo
nonsurgical transfer
vitrification