A Comparison of Embryonic Developmental Rates After Staining With Pkh-26-Gl

Date of Graduation

Summer 2005

Degree

Master of Natural and Applied Science in Agriculture

Department

College of Agriculture

Committee Chair

Dennis Schmitt

Abstract

With the loss of natural habitat of animals to the ever increasing human population, the number of endangered species is on the rise. Even though efforts are currently underway to re-populate these species, many have problems reproducing in captivity and for some, it would take too much time using conventional methods of reproduction. New research in the area of chimeras hopes to enable species that are reproductively incompatible; join together to have a host deliver an animal having reproductive organs from the target species. However, we are currently unable to determine which cells become the embryo and which become the supporting tissue. With the use of a stain, we could visually see that the target cells become the embryo proper while the host cells become the supporting tissue. This study was to determine if the stain PKH-36-GL would hinder embryo development at the morula cell stage with and without the zona pellucida in the ability to form blastocysts and to determine if there was a difference in the development of blastocysts when the zone pellucida was removed at the 4-, 8-, and morula cell stages. It was determined that while the stain did not have a toxic effect on embryos, removing the zona did hinder blastocyst development at all cell stages.

Keywords

PKH-26-GL, bovine, toxic, blastocyst, in vitro fertilization, zona pellucida

Subject Categories

Agriculture

Copyright

© Christina D. Gottschall

Citation-only

Dissertation/Thesis

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