ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to assess the effect of various aspects of pronuclear DNA microinjection on the early development of porcine ova in utero. Estrus was synchronized and superovulation was achieved in sexually mature gilts by the administration of allyl trenbolone, PMSG and hCG. Donor gilts were bred at 12 and 24 h after the onset of estrus. Ova were recovered between 60 and 62 h after the administration of hCG. One-cell ova that exhibited pronuclei after centrifugation were randomly allocated in equal numbers from each donor across one of two pairs of treatments: micro-DNA (ova were injected with two gene constructs that code for the human complement regulatory proteins decay accelerating factor and membrane cofactor protein) and control (ova were centrifuged only) or micro-buffer (ova were injected with buffer only) and pierced (a pipette was inserted into one pronucleus). Ova were transferred by treatment pairs to recipients. Treatments were segregated by oviduct. Ova were recovered after 120 h in utero, fixed and stained with 1% orcein. The proportion of ova that possessed > or = 80 nuclei, the mean number of nuclei present and proportion of ova that formed blastocysts were all significantly (P<0.05) greater for control and pierced ova than for micro-DNA and micro-buffer ova. No difference in these parameters was observed between micro-DNA and micro-buffer ova. These results demonstrate that pronuclear microinjection of a buffer alone can adversely affect the early development of porcine ova in utero.
