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MOLECULAR REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT 61:234–248 (2002) Consequences of Bovine Oocyte Maturation, Fertilization or Early Embryo Development In Vitro Versus In Vivo: Implications for Blastocyst Yield and Blastocyst Quality DIMITRIOS RIZOS, FABIAN WARD, PAT DUFFY, MAURICE P. BOLAND, AND PATRICK LONERGAN* Department of Animal Science and Production and Conway Institute for Biomedical and Biomolecular Research, University College Dublin, Lyons Research Farm, Newcastle, County Dublin, Ireland ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to examine the effect of bovine oocyte maturation, fertilization or culture in vivo or in vitro on the proportion of oocytes reaching the blastocyst stage, and on blastocyst quality as measured by survival following vitrification. In Experiment 1, 4 groups of oocytes were used: (1) immature oocytes from 2– 6 mm follicles; (2) immature oocytes from >6 mm follicles; (3) immature oocytes recovered in vivo just before the LH surge; and (4) in vivo matured oocytes. Significantly more blastocysts developed from oocytes matured in vivo than those recovered just before the LH surge or than oocytes from 2–6 mm follicles. Results from >6 mm follicles were intermediate. All blasto- cysts had low survival following vitrification. In Experi- ment 2, in vivo matured oocytes were either (1) fertilized in vitro or (2) fertilized in vivo by artificial insemination and the resulting presumptive zygotes recovered on day 1. Both groups were then cultured in vitro. In vivo fertilized oocytes had a significantly higher blastocyst yield than those fertilized in vitro. Blastocyst quality was similar between the groups. Both groups had low survival following vitrification. In Experiment 3a, presumptive zygotes produced by in vitro maturation (IVM)/fertilization (IVF) were cultured either in vitro in synthetic oviduct fluid, or in vivo in the ewe oviduct. In Experiment 3b, in vivo matured/in vivo fertilized zygotes were either surgically recovered on day 1 and cultured in vitro in synthetic oviduct fluid, or were nonsurgically recovered on day 7. There was no difference in blastocyst yields between groups of zygotes originating from the same source (in vivo or in vitro fertilization) irrespective of whether culture took place in vivo or in vitro. However, there was a dramatic effect on blastocyst quality with those blastocysts produced following in vivo culture surviving vitrification at significantly higher rates than their in vitro cultured counterparts. Collectively, these results indicate that the intrinsic quality of the oocyte is the main factor affecting blastocyst yields, while the conditions of embryo culture have a crucial role in determining blastocyst quality. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 61: 234–248, 2002. ß 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Key Words: oocyte development; in vitro fertiliza- tion; ovum pick-up; embryo; gamete biology INTRODUCTION The development of bovine oocytes to the blastocyst stage following maturation, fertilization and culture in vitro is limited to about 30–40%. There is now a growing amount of evidence to suggest that while culture conditions can impact on the developmental potential of the early embryo, the intrinsic quality of the oocyte is the key factor determining the proportion of oocytes developing to the blastocyst stage (Sirard and Blondin, 1996). In support of this idea, oocytes derived from large follicles are more competent than those derived from small follicles (Pavlok et al., 1992; Lonergan et al., 1994). Also, a greater proportion of in vivo matured oocytes reach the blastocyst stage compared to those produced in vitro (Greve et al., 1987; Leibfried-Rutledge et al., 1987; Marquant-Le Guienne et al., 1989; McCaffrey et al., 1991; Van Soom et al., 1992). While still enclosed within the follicle, especially the one destined to become the dominant follicle, the oocyte undergoes significant changes that play a key role in its acquisition of developmental competence. A number of ultrastructural and molecular changes occurring dur- ing oocyte development have been linked to develop- mental competence (Assey et al., 1994b; Hyttel et al., 1997). Also, in vitro maturation (IVM) has been associated with certain abnormalities in the oocyte (Hyttel et al., 1986, 1988, 1989). In addition to the proportion of oocytes developing to the blastocyst stage, the quality of these embryos is important. Despite extensive research in terms of ß 2002 WILEY-LISS, INC. DOI 10.1002/mrd.1153 Grant sponsor: EU Commission; Grant number: QLK3-CT-1999- 00104; Grant sponsor: Greek State Scholarships Foundation. *Correspondence to: Patrick Lonergan, Ph.D., Department of Animal Science & Production, University College Dublin, Lyons Research Farm, Newcastle, County Dublin, Ireland. E-mail: pat.lonergan@ucd.ie Received 18 May 2001; Accepted 1 August 2001 increasing the yield of blastocysts from immature oocytes, the quality of in vitro produced embryos, in terms of survival following cryopreservation, has continually lagged behind that achieved with in vivo derived embryos. In vitro, produced bovine embryos differ from those produced in vivo in many important respects (Massip et al., 1995; Wright and Ellington, 1995) including darker cytoplasm, lower density (Pol- lard and Leibo, 1994), more triglycerides and less lipids from other classes (Abd El Razek et al., 2000), swollen blastomeres (Van Soom et al., 1992), a more fragile zona pellucida (Duby et al., 1997), a slower growth rate and higher thermal sensitivity (Leibo and Loskutoff, 1993), differences in intercellular communication (Boni et al., 1999), and a higher incidence of chromosomal abnorm- alities (Viuff et al., 1999; Slimane et al., 2000), all of which may contribute to the higher sensitivity to cryoinjury exhibited by such embryos. It is unclear, which parts of the process of embryo production are important in determining such para- meters as blastocyst yields and blastocyst quality. The aim of this study was to examine in detail the sequential steps of bovine embryo production in vivo and in vitro (i.e., maturation, fertilization, and early embryo development) in an effort to understand, which steps of the process are important in determining oocyte/embryo developmental competence and embryo quality, respectively. While some of these aspects have been studied previously in isolation, this is the first time, to our knowledge, that such studies have been carried out in parallel. MATERIALS AND METHODS Oocyte Collection and IVM Cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were obtained by aspirating follicles from the ovaries of heifers, either at slaughter or using ovum pick-up (OPU), depending on the experiment. After four washes in PBS supplement- ed with 36 mg/ml pyruvate, 50 mg/ml gentamycin, and 0.5 mg/ml bovine serum albumin (BSA) (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, catalogue number A-9647), groups of up to 50 COCs were placed in 500 ml maturation medium in four-well dishes (Nunc, Roskilde, Denmark), and cultured for 24 hr at 398C under an atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air with maximum humidity. The maturation medium was TCM-199 supplemented with 10% (v/v) fetal calf serum (FCS, Sigma, F-2442) and 10 ng/ml epidermal growth factor (Sigma, E-4127). Sperm Preparation and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) For in vitro fertilization (IVF), COCs were washed four times in PBS and then in fertilization medium before being transferred in groups of up to 50 into four- well dishes containing 250 ml of fertilization medium (Tyrode’s medium with 25 mM bicarbonate, 22 mM Na- lactate, 1mM Na-pyruvate, and 6 mg/ml fatty acid-free BSA). In addition, 10 mg/ml heparin–sodium salt (184 units/mg heparin, Calbiochem, San Diego, CA) were added. Motile spermatozoa were obtained by centrifugation of frozen-thawed semen (Dairygold A.I. Station, Mallow, Ireland) on a discontinuous Percoll (Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden)density gradient (2.5 ml 45% (v/v) Percoll over 2.5 ml 90% (v/v) Percoll) for 8 min at 700g at room temperature. Viable spermatozoa, collected at the bottom of the 90% fraction were washed in HEPES-buffered Tyrode’s and pelleted by centrifu- gation at 100g for 5 min. Spermatozoa were counted in a hemocytometer and diluted in the appropriate volume of fertilization medium to give a concentration of 2�106 spermatozoa/ml. A 250 ml aliquant of this suspension was added to each fertilization well to obtain a final concentration of 1�106 spermatozoa/ml. Plates were incubated for 24 hr at 398C under an atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air with maximum humidity. Semen from the same bull was used for all experiments. In Vitro Culture (IVC) At approximately 20 hr post insemination (hpi), pre- sumptive zygotes were denuded by gentle vortexing, washed four times in PBS and twice in culture medium (synthetic oviduct fluid, SOF) before being transferred to 25 ml culture droplets (25 embryos/droplet). Fetal calf serum (10%, v/v) was added 24 hr after placement in culture. Cleavage was assessed 48 hpi and blastocyst development was recorded on days 6–8 (day 0day of IVF). In Vivo Production of Oocytes and Embryos The protocol used for the in vivo production of oocytes and embryos is described in Table 1. Beef cross heifers were synchronized using a CIDR device (InterAg, Hamilton, New Zealand) for 8 days. Three days before CIDR removal, heifers received 2 ml (15 mg) of prostaglandin F2a analogue (PG, Prosolvin, Intervet, Dublin, Ireland). Heifers were checked for standing estrus (day 0). The dominant follicle was ablated by transvaginal aspiration on day 8 of the estrous cycle. TABLE 1. Protocol to Obtain In Vivo Oocytes/Embryos Day Time (hr) Action ÿ10 CIDR in ÿ5 Prostaglandin ÿ2 CIDR removal 0 Estrus 8 Dominant follicle ablation 10 FSH am & pm 11 FSH am & pm 12 FSH am & pm 0 Prostaglandin pm 13 FSH am & pm 14 40 Ovum pick up–oocytes just before LH surge 40 Induction of LH surge with GnRH 48 AI for day 1 and day 7 in vivo embryos 15 60 AI for day 1 and day 7 in vivo embryos 60 Ovum pick up–in vivo matured oocytes 16 Surgical embryo recovery of day 1 in vivo zygotes 21 Nonsurgical embryo recovery of day 7 in vivo embryos BOVINE OOCYTE AND EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT 235 Roniele Realce Roniele Realce Roniele Realce Roniele Realce Roniele Realce Roniele Realce Roniele Realce Roniele Realce Beginning on day 10, animals were superovulated with a total of 180 mg FSH (Folltropin, Vetrepharm Canada, Inc., London, Ontario, Canada) given as twice daily injections over four days on a decreasing dose schedule. Luteolysis was induced with 15 mg PG given on day 12. To obtain oocytes just before the expected time of the LH surge (i.e., before the resumption of meiosis), OPU was performed 40 hr after PG (Callesen et al., 1986; Greve et al., 1995; Vos et al., 1996). To obtain in vivo matured oocytes, heifers received 0.25 mg GnRH (2.5 ml Fertagyl, Intervet) at 40 hr after PG and OPU was performed approximately 20 hr later. This treatment has been shown to induce a preovulatory LH surge 2– 3 hr after injection (Bordignon et al., 1997; van de Leemput et al., 1999). Only oocytes with an expanded cumulus cell mass were used. To produce day 1 (1- to 2-cell stage) and day 7 (blastocyst stage) embryos, heifers were inseminated with frozen-thawed semen at 48 and 60 hr after PG injection. The same semen batch as used in IVF was used for artificial insemination. Day 1 embryos were collected by mid-ventral laparotomy approximately 90 hr after the PG injection by flushing the oviducts with PBS supplemented with 5% FCS. Day 7 embryos were recovered by nonsurgical flushing 9 days after PG. In Vivo Culture of IVM/IVF Presumptive Zygotes in the Ewe Oviduct Presumptive zygotes produced following IVM/IVF were surgically transferred by mid ventral laparotomy to the ligated ewe oviduct (approximately 100 per ovi- duct) at 20 hpi. Embryos were recovered from the ewe 6 days later (i.e., day 7 post insemination) at surgery by flushing the oviduct with 20 ml of PBS. On recovery, the number of blastocysts was recorded and expressed as a fraction of the total number of embryos recovered. Embryos were then cultured overnight till day 8. Blastocyst Vitrification Blastocysts were vitrified using the open pulled straw (OPS) method described by Vajta et al. (1998) in a final solution containing 20% ethylene glycol and 20% DMSO. Warmed blastocysts were cultured in 25 ml droplets of M199 10% FCS in the presence of a granu- losa cell monolayer (Rizos et al., 2001), and examined at 24, 48, and 72 hr post-warming. Survival was defined as re-expansion and maintenance of the blastocoel. The hatching rate was also recorded and expressed as a percentage of those embryos surviving at 72 hr post- warming. Experimental Design The experimental design is illustrated in Figure 1. The three experiments outlined below were concerned with the effect of maturation, fertilization and culture, respectively, either in vivo or in vitro, on the proportion of oocytes developing to the blastocyst stage. Blasto- cysts produced in these three experiments were used to examine the effect of production method on blastocyst quality as measured by survival following vitrification/ warming. Experiment 1: Oocyte Maturation In Vivo vs. In Vitro The aim of Experiment 1 was to evaluate the im- portance of the events surrounding oocyte maturation. Four groups of oocytes were used: (1) immature oocytes from 2–6 mm follicles from slaughterhouse ovaries, n388; (2) immature oocytes from > 6 mm follicles from slaughterhouse ovaries, n99; (3) immature oocytes recovered by OPU just before the LH surge, n102; and (4) in vivo matured oocytes recovered by OPU, n 134. Following recovery, Groups 1–3 were submitted to IVM for 24 hr as described above, while Fig. 1. Experimental design. Bovine oocytes were matured either in vitro (IVM) or in vivo (VivoM), fertilized either in vitro (IVF) or in vivo (VivoF) and cultured in vitro (IVC) or in vivo (VivoC). 236 D. RIZOS ET AL. Group 4 oocytes were partially denuded by brief expo- sure to 0.05% hyaluronidase and immediately insemi- nated. The experimental design was such that oocytes from all 4 groups were inseminated at the same time. At approximately 20 hr post insemination presump- tive zygotes were transferred to SOF droplets for embryo culture. In order to study the kinetics of cleavage, culture droplets were examined at exactly 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 42, and 48 hpi. At each time-point, the number of cleaved embryos was recorded. We have previously shown that such repeated observations do not impact on the overall blastocyst yield (Lonergan et al., 1999a). Experiment 2: Oocyte Fertilization In Vivo vs. In Vitro The aim of Experiment 2 was to assess the impor- tance of fertilization in vitro or in vivo on subsequent blastocyst development and quality. In vivo matured oocytes were either (1) fertilized in vitro (n 134) or (2) fertilized in vivo by artificial insemination and the resulting presumptive zygotes recovered on day 1 (n 69). Both groups were then cultured in vitro. As a control, a group of oocytes (n 388) recovered from 2– 6 mm follicles from the ovaries of slaughtered heifers were put through IVM/IVF/IVC in parallel. Experiment 3: Embryo Culture In Vivo vs. In Vitro The aim of Experiment 3 was to assess the impact of the culture in vitro or in vivo on the yield and quality of blastocysts. In Experiment 3a, presumptive zygotes produced by IVM/IVF were cultured either in vitro in SOF (n463), or in vivo in the ewe oviduct (n775). In Experiment 3b, in vivo matured/in vivo fertilized zygotes were either surgically recovered on day 1 and cultured in vitro in SOF (n 69), or remained in vivo and werenonsurgically recovered on day 7 (n 98). As a control, a group of zygotes (n388) produced by IVM/ IVF were cultured in vitro in parallel. In all three experiments, the overall cleavage rate was recorded at 48 hpi and blastocyst development was recorded on days 6, 7, and 8 pi. To assess blastocyst quality, in each experiment, day 7 blastocysts from each group were vitrified/warmed using the OPS method as described above, and survival rate was recorded every 24 hr up to 72 hr post-warming in parallel with nonvitrified control embryos. Statistical Analysis Differences in cleavage and development of zygotes to the blastocyst stage as well as data on the proportion of blastocysts surviving cryopreservation were compared using chi-square analysis. A P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS Experiment 1 The average follicle size (mm) from which oocytes were recovered at OPU was 11.4�1.8 (n 92) for oocytes recovered just before the LH surge and 13.5�0.5 (n87) for in vivo matured oocytes. There was no difference in oocyte cleavage rate following IVF or the yield of blastocysts by day 6, irrespective of the origin of the oocyte (Table 2). However, by day 7 and day 8, significantly more blastocysts developed from oocytes matured in vivo (58.2%) than those re- covered just before the LH surge (39.2%) or those from 2–6 mm follicles (38.9%). Oocytes from large follicles (>6 mm) resulted in an intermediate blastocyst yields (46.5%). The kinetics of early cleavage is shown in Figure 2. With regard to the three groups of oocytes matured in vitro (2–6 mm, > 6 mm, LH), the kinetics of cleavage are consistent with the subsequent blastocyst develop- ment; ranking the groups based on the proportion of oocytes cleaved by 30 hpi mirrored their ranking based on overall blastocyst yields (see Table 2). In contrast, while oocytes matured in vivo had the highest blas- tocyst yields of all groups, they exhibited an apparently slower kinetics of cleavage. In terms of blastocyst quality (Fig. 3), there was no difference in the survival or hatching rate of control (nonvitrified) blastocysts amongst the four groups. TABLE 2. Effect of Bovine Oocyte Origin on In Vitro Embryo Development (Experiment 1) Oocyte origin N Cleaved n (%) Blastocyst yield Day 6 Day 7 Day8 n (%) n (%) n (%) In vitro 2–6 mm 388 319 (82.2) 65 (16.8) 123a (31.7) 151 (38.9) In vitro > 6 mm 99 87 (87.9) 23 (23.2) 38a,b (38.4) 46a,b (46.5) Before LH surge 102 90 (88.2) 17 (16.7) 36a (35.3) 40a (39.2) In vivo matured 134 117 (87.3) 30 (22.4) 65b (48.5) 78b (58.2) P value NS NS 0.05 0.01 a,bValues in the same column with different superscripts differ significantly. N, total number of oocytes. BOVINE OOCYTE AND EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT 237 In contrast, survival following vitrification was rela- tively low in all groups ranging from <40% at 24 hr post-warming to <20% in all groups by 72 hr post- warming (see Figure 3 for statistical comparisons). There were no differences in hatching rate either in control or vitrified blastocysts. Experiment 2 The results of Experiment 2 are shown in Figure 4. There was no difference in cleavage rate when in vivo matured oocytes were fertilized in vivo (92.8%) or in vitro (87.3%). However, in vivo fertilization resulted in a significantly higher cleavage rate (P<0.05) than the control in vitro-matured group. In vivo fertilized oocytes had a significantly higher blastocyst yields (P<0.01) than both in vitro fertilized groups on days 6, 7, and 8 (73.9 vs. 58.2% and 39.2% on day 8, for in vivo fertilized, in vivo matured/in vitro fertilized and in vitro matured/in vitro fertilized oocytes, respectively). In addition, in vivo matured/in vitro fertilized oocytes yielded significantly more blastocysts (P< 0.001) than in vitro matured oocytes on day 7 and day 8. Similar to the results of Experiment 1, there was no difference in the survival of control (nonvitrified) blastocysts (Fig. 5). In addition, survival and hatching rate following vitrification was not different between the groups, with survival ranging from < 40% at 24 hr to < 20% at 72 hr post-warming. Experiment 3 The results of Experiment 3a are presented in Table 3. The recovery rate of embryos from the ligated ewe oviduct was 64.3%. The cleavage rate of in vitro cultured zygotes was 82.5%; a figure for the cleavage rate of in vivo cultured zygotes was not obtainable due to the degeneration of nondeveloping embryos in the oviduct. However, there was no difference in the proportion of oocytes developing to the blastocyst stage by day 7 or 8 between the two culture systems (34.1 vs. 34.5%). In contrast, there was a marked difference in the quality of the blastocysts produced in the two culture systems. While there was no difference in the survival and hatching rates of control (nonvitrified) blastocysts (Fig. 6), following vitrification and warming, signifi- cantly more blastocysts (P< 0.001) from the ewe oviduct survived at all time points and hatched than their in vitro counterparts (88.0 vs. 5.6% survival, respectively at 72 hr). The results of culturing in vivo matured/in vivo fertilized zygotes either in vivo or in vitro (Experiment 3b) are presented in Table 4. The cleavage rate and Fig. 2. Kinetics of first cleavage following in vitro fertilization of bovine oocytes from 2–6 mm follicles (n289), > 6 mm follicles (n47), oocytes recovered just prior to the expected time of the LH surge (n63) and oocytes matured in vivo (n 82). 238 D. RIZOS ET AL. Fig. 3. Effect of oocyte origin on bovine blastocyst quality assessed in terms of survival following vitrification. Blastocysts were derived from oocytes from 2–6 mm follicles (control: n 34, vitrified: n57), >6 mm follicles (control: n 5, vitrified: n 25), oocytes recovered just prior to the expected time of the LH surge (control: n5, vitrified: n 28) and oocytes matured in vivo (control: n 20, vitrified: n 40). Different superscripts indicate significant differences (P< 0.05) between treatments at a given time point. Fig. 4. Effect of fertilization in vivo or in vitro on the cleavage rate at 48 hr post insemination and the blastocyst yield on days 6, 7, and 8. In vivo matured bovine oocytes were either fertilized in vitro (n 134) or in vivo by artificial insemination (n 69). Both groups were cultured in vitro in parallel with a control group of IVM/IVF/IVC oocytes (n388). Different superscripts indicate significant differ- ences (P< 0.05) between treatments. BOVINE OOCYTE AND EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT 239 blastocyst yields of in vivo produced zygotes was unaffected by the site of culture (in vitro vs. cow oviduct). In addition, both in vivo groups resulted in significantly higher cleavage (P<0.05) and blastocyst yields (P<0.001) at all time points than the in vitro control. In terms of blastocyst quality, as in Experiment 3a, it was clear that culture system had a dramatic effect on survival following vitrification. There was no difference in the survival of control (nonvitrified) blastocysts at 24 or 48 hr. At 72 hr, significantly more in vivo produced blastocysts survived compared to those derived from IVM/IVF/IVC (Fig. 7). In vitro culture, irrespective of origin of the zygote, resulted in significantly lower survival and hatching (P< 0.001) following vitrification than culture in vivo (69.6 vs. 0% and 1.8% survival at 72 hr, for in vivo matured /fertilized /cultured, in vivo matured /fertilized /in vitro culture and in vitro matured /fertilized /cultured embryos, respectively). Figure 8 presents a summary of all the data from the three experiments relating to oocyte quality measured in terms of blastocyst development, and blastocyst quality measured in terms of survival following vitrification. The farther along the developmental axis from oocyte to blastocystthat the oocyte/embryo was removed from the in vivo environment and placed in vitro, the greater the development. In terms of quality, irrespective of the method of production of the zygotes, culture in vivo resulted in blastocysts of significantly higher quality. The morphology of bovine embryos produced in vitro and in vivo is shown in Figure 9. In vitro produced embryos tended to have a darker overall appearance, larger blastomeres at the early cleavage stages coupled Fig. 5. Effect of fertilization in vivo or in vitro on bovine blastocyst quality assessed in terms of survival following vitrification. Blas- tocysts were derived from in vivo matured oocytes, which were either fertilized in vitro (control: n20, vitrified: n 40) or in vivo (control: n 21, vitrified: n26) or from IVM/IVF/IVC oocytes (control: n 34, vitrified: n 57). Different superscripts indicate significant differ- ences (P< 0.05) between treatments at a given time point. TABLE 3. Effect of Culture of IVM/IVF Zygotes In Vitro in Synthetic Oviduct Fluid or In Vivo in the Ewe Oviduct on Embryo Development (Experiment 3a) Culture system Zygotes transferred n Embryos recovered n (%) Cleaved n (%) Blastocyst yield Day 7 n (%) Day 8 n (%) In vitro 463 — 382 (82.5) 127 (27.4) 158 (34.1) In vivo 775 498 (64.3) — 121 (24.3) 172 (34.5) P value NS NS 240 D. RIZOS ET AL. with a much reduced perivitelline space and more defined compaction of the morula prior to blastulation. A representative sample of blastocysts produced by IVM/IVF/IVC, following culture in the ewe oviduct or produced totally in vivo is illustrated in Figure 10. Consistent with the data described above relating to blastocyst quality as assessed by survival following vitrification, IVM/IVF zygotes cultured in vivo resulted in blastocysts with a similar morphology to those produced totally in vivo, with IVM/IVF/IVC blastocysts being considerably darker. DISCUSSION Oocyte Maturation The results clearly demonstrate that oocytes matured in vivo are more competent than those matured in vitro. This in agreement with several previous studies (Greve et al., 1987; Leibfried-Rutledge et al., 1987; Marquant- Le Guienne et al., 1989; Bordignon et al., 1997; van de Leemput et al., 1999). In the study of Bordignon et al. (1997), blastocyst development of oocytes with ex- panded cumulus fertilized immediately after recovery was 60% in GnRH-treated animals (using similar timings to the present study, i.e., OPU 60 hr post PG). Our results are entirely consistent with these findings. However, in many of these studies the sources of in vivo and in vitro matured oocytes were different, coming from preovulatory and 2–8-mm follicles, respectively. To take account of this, we used immature oocytes recovered just before the expected time of the LH surge in vivo (i.e., just prior to resumption of meiosis) as a control as well as oocytes from 2–6 mm follicles and >6 mm follicles as it has previously been demonstrated that oocytes from these follicle sizes differ in terms of developmental competence (Pavlok et al., 1992; Lonergan et al., 1994). Consistent with these observa- tions, we observed that oocytes from follicles >6 mm resulted in significantly more blastocysts than those from 2–6 mm follicles. One unexpected result was the relatively low blas- tocyst yields from oocytes recovered just before the LH surge (39.2%), which was not significantly higher than our routine laboratory control using oocytes from 2–6 mm follicles from slaughterhouse ovaries (38.9%). It is well known that superovulation can result in abnormal endocrine profiles in the animal leading to abnormal preovulatory LH release (Callesen et al., 1986, 1987) and this is often associated with impaired oocyte maturation and ultimately reduced embryo quality (Callesen et al., 1986; Goff et al., 1986). It could also be argued that oocytes recovered from GnRH-treated heifers had been exposed to a more synchronous signal for meiotic resumption, resulting in the superior blastocyst yields observed in this study. With regard to the kinetics of first cleavage, we have previously demonstrated a clear relationship between the time of first cleavage post-insemination in vitro and Fig. 6. Effect of culture of IVM/IVF zygotes in vitro (control: n20, vitrified: n 54) or in vivo in the ewe oviduct (control: n 9, vitrified: n50) on blastocyst quality assessed in terms of survival following vitrification. Different superscripts indicate significant differences (P< 0.001) between treatments at a given time point. BOVINE OOCYTE AND EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT 241 developmental competence with those oocytes cleaving earliest after IVF being more likely to reach the blastocyst stage than their later-cleaving counterparts (Dinnyes et al., 1999; Lonergan et al., 1999a). In Experiment 1, we observed a similar relationship amongst the groups that were matured in vitro (2– 6 mm, >6 mm, LH); ranking of the groups based on the proportion of oocytes cleaving by 30 hpi mirrored their ranking based on overall blastocyst yields. In contrast, however, the in vivo matured oocytes, despite being inseminated at the same time as the other three groups, had an apparently slower kinetics of cleavage, but nonetheless resulted in the highest blastocyst yields. This apparent contradiction is difficult to explain. Further, evidence for the fact that the intrinsic quality of the oocyte determines the blastocyst yields comes from the results of Experiment 3, where in vitro matured/fertilized oocytes resulted in a blastocyst yields of approximately 35% irrespective of whether they were cultured in vitro or in vivo, while >70% of in vivo matured /fertilized oocytes reached that stage following culture either in vitro or in vivo (Table 4). Differences have been reported between in vivo- and in vitro-matured oocytes, which may explain the observed differences in developmental competence. TABLE 4. Effect of Culture of In Vivo Matured/Fertilized Bovine Zygotes In Vitro or In Vivo on Embryo Development (Experiment 3b) Treatment N Cleaved n (%) Blastocyst yield Day 6 n (%) Day 7 n (%) Day 8 n (%) Control 388 319a (82.2) 65a (16.8) 123a (31.7) 151a (38.9) In vivo matured/ fertilized 69 64b (92.8) 34b (49.3) 49b (71.0) 51b (73.9) In vivo matured/ fertilized/cultured 98 90b (91.8) — 73a (74.5) 80b (81.6) P value 0.05 0.001 0.001 0.001 a,bValues in the same column with different superscripts differ significantly. N, total number of zygotes; control, oocytes from 2–6 mm follicles from slaughterhouse ovaries used in IVM/IVF/IVC. Fig. 7. Effect of culture of in vivo matured/fertilized zygotes in vitro (control: n 21, vitrified: n 26) or in vivo (control: n 22, vitrified: n 46) on blastocyst quality assessed in terms of survival following vitrification. A group of blastocysts derived from IVM/IVF/IVC were treated in the same way (control: n34, vitrified: n 57). Different superscripts indicate significant differences (P<0.01) between treat- ments at a given time point. 242 D. RIZOS ET AL. Cumulus expansion is usually more extensive following maturation in vivo (Suzuki et al., 1996). There is a high degree of homogeneity amongst oocytes matured in vivo at the ultrastructural level; this contrasts with the ultrastructural heterogeneity exhibited by in vitro matured oocytes, even when a uniform population of the latter is selected prior to IVM (de Loos et al., 1992). IVM has been shown to result in deviations ranging from asynchrony between nuclear, cytoplasmic, and cumulus maturation to outright degeneration. Assey et al. (1994a) reported that bovine oocytes aspirated from dominant follicles before the LH surge display alterations in their nuclear and cytoplasmic morphology which according to the authors, are a prerequisitefor the acquisition of full developmental competence. This would indicate that not only final oocyte maturation (i.e., the processes occurring between LH surge and ovulation) is significant, but also the period preceding the LH surge may be important for the establishment of developmental competence. Oocyte Fertilization The results of Experiment 2 in which a higher proportion of in vivo matured oocytes developed to blastocysts following fertilization in vivo compared with fertilization in vitro suggests that the events around the time of fertilization might be important in determining the developmental competence of the oocyte. However, whether or not fertilization in vivo per se was solely responsible for the observed increase in blastocyst yields is questionable. It should be noted that the in vivo fertilized oocytes were ovulated oocytes; this is in contrast to the in vivo matured/in vitro fertilized group, in which oocytes were recovered from preovulatory follicles just prior to the expected time of ovulation. In unstimulated cattle, ovulation occurs approximately 24 hr after the LH peak, while following superovulation, ovulations occur from 24–33 hr after the peak (Callesen et al., 1986). This would suggest that a proportion of the oocytes removed from preovulatory follicles may not have completed maturation and this may have contributed to a lower blastocyst yields. To address this question, we attempted the fertiliza- tion of in vitro matured bovine oocytes in the sheep oviduct using GIFT, involving the transfer of matured oocytes and sperm to the oviduct simultaneously, or the transfer of matured oocytes to the oviduct of a ewe previously inseminated with bovine sperm (results not shown). Irrespective of the method used only a very low Fig. 8. Summary graph showing effect of oocyte origin on the yield and quality of bovine blastocysts. Blastocysts were derived from oocytes from (1) slaughterhouse ovaries from 2–6 mm or (2) >6 mm follicles, (3) recovered by ovum pick up just prior to the expected time of the LH surge, or (4) following maturation in vivo, (5) matured and fertilized in vitro and cultured in the ewe oviduct, (6) matured/ fertilized in vivo and cultured in vitro, or (7) matured/fertilized/ cultured in vivo. Arrows indicate that the further along the developmental axis the oocyte/embryo is removed from the in vivo environment the greater the blastocyst development. Culture in vivo, irrespective of the origin of the oocyte results in blastocysts of superior quality to the culture in vitro. BOVINE OOCYTE AND EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT 243 proportion of oocytes were fertilized and none devel- oped to blastocysts. Other authors have similarly attempted the in vivo fertilization of in vitro matured bovine oocytes in the inseminated rabbit (Sreenan, 1970; Hunter et al., 1972; Trounson et al., 1977), sheep (Sreenan, 1970), and cow oviduct (Trounson et al., 1977; Newcomb et al., 1978; Myers et al., 1992) with limited success, although Newcomb et al. (1978) did report the birth of twin calves following one such Fig. 9. Morphology of bovine embryos produced in vivo (A–E) or in vitro (F–J). Images are representative of matured oocytes (A and F), 2-cell embryos (B and G), 8-cell embryos (C and H), morulae (D and I), and blastocysts (E and J). Fig. 10. Morphology of bovine blastocysts produced by (A) IVM/ IVF/IVC, (B) in vivo culture in the sheep oviduct of IVM/IVF zygotes, and (C) superovulation and nonsurgical embryo recovery on day 7. 244 D. RIZOS ET AL. attempt. It would seem that such an approach is fraught with technical difficulties which only cloud the issue. Embryo Culture In vivo, the oviduct is the site of fertilization and early embryo development. The oviductal environment can support embryonic growth up to the blastocyst stage across a wide range of species following trans- species transfer. Ligated rabbit oviducts have been used extensively for the development of embryos from many species including sheep (Averill et al., 1955; Lawson et al., 1972), cattle (Sreenan et al., 1968; Boland, 1984; Ectors et al., 1993), pigs (Polge et al., 1972), and horses (Allen et al., 1976). Sheep oviducts have been shown to support the growth of cow (Eyestone et al., 1987; Galli and Lazzari, 1996; Gutierrez-Adan et al., 1996; Enright et al., 2000; Rizos et al., 2001), and pig (Prather et al., 1991) embryos. The mouse oviduct has also been used to support the development of zygotes from the cow (Krisher et al., 1989; Sharif et al., 1991), and hamster (Minami et al., 1988). In the present study, the blastocyst yields from IVM/ IVF oocytes was unaffected irrespective of whether culture took place in vitro or in vivo in the ewe oviduct (Experiment 3a). This is consistent with a previous report from our group (Enright et al., 2000). Jimenez et al. (2001) observed that culture in the ligated sheep oviduct resulted in similar blastocyst yields to culture in vitro (26 vs. 27%). However, if ligation was not carried out and the embryos were allowed to go into the uterus, development was significantly reduced (Jime- nez et al., 2001). This observation is diffcult to reconcile with the results of Rexroad and Powell (1999) and Talbot et al. (2000), who demonstrated that the uterus of the ewe supports normal development of bovine blastocysts after transfer at day 7 and recovery at day 14, demonstrating that bovine embryos can undergo continued development in the reproductive tract of ewes, when transferred either as 4-cell embryos or as expanded or hatched blastocysts. In the corollary to this experiment, we compared development of in vivo matured/fertilized zygotes following culture either in vitro or in vivo in the heifer oviduct. Consistent with the observations described above, there was no difference in blastocyst yields between the two culture systems. The combined results of these two experiments clearly demonstrate that the proportion of oocytes developing to the blastocyst stage is not determined by the culture system, but rather by the origin of the oocytes. In addition, it is clear that oocytes from a common source will result in similar blastocyst development even when culture takes place in different environments. While culture of IVM/IVF zygotes in the ewe oviduct did not affect blastocyst yields, the oviduct environment of the intermediate recipient clearly improved the overall quality of IVM/IVF blastocysts, as measured by survival following cryopreservation. Similarly, the results of Experiment 3b demonstrate that the in vitro culture of zygotes derived from oocytes of high devel- opmental potential (in vivo matured/fertilized) is sufficient to result in blastocysts of low cryotolerance, similar to those resulting from IVM/IVF/IVC. Consis- tent with these and previous results from our group (Enright et al., 2000), Pugh et al. (2001) observed that culture of bovine embryos in the sheep oviduct improved the frozen but not the fresh embryo survival following transfer. Tervit et al. (1994) found that, while culture in the oviduct did not affect the proportion of sheep embryos judged to be of freezeable quality, the percentage of embryos surviving post thaw was higher for IVM/IVF embryos after culture in the oviduct than culture in SOF. Holm et al. (1994) demonstrated that IVC of IVM/IVF derived ovine zygotes reduced embryo viability by 15–25% compared with in vivo culture. Galli and Lazzari (1996) reported that there were no differences between culture in the ewe oviduct or culture in vitro in terms of blastocyst formation at day 8. However, in agreement with our results, they observed major differences in quality with embryos cultured in the ewe oviduct and those collected from superovulated donors being superior in terms of sensitivity to freezing/thawing. Differences have been described at the ultrastruc-tural level which may in part explain the variation in cryotolerance observed amongst groups of embryos. In a recent study by Fair et al. (2001), it was demonstrated that blastocysts derived from the in vivo culture in the ewe oviduct of IVM/IVF zygotes displayed only minor morphological differences from those produced comple- tely in vivo by superovulation. In contrast, in vitro produced blastocysts exhibited a range of character- istics associated with reduced cryotolerance such as a wider perivitelline space, vacuoles in the trophblast cells, a sparse population of microvilli, a greatly reduced network of intercellular connections and a large increase in lipid content. Similar observations have been reported by other authors (Abe et al., 1999; Crosier et al., 2000). What is it that controls the development of a blastocyst of high quality? Differences in gene expres- sion exist between in vitro and in vivo embryos, which may explain the differences in quality observed. Wrenzycki et al. (1996) demonstrated that expression of the connexin 43 gene at the blastocyst stage differs between bovine embryos produced in vitro and those produced in vivo. This gene is involved in the formation of a protein that gives rise to gap junctions between cells. Poor gap junction formation is associated with poor cell compaction and is a common occurrence in IVP embryos. Also, accelerated development in vitro due to serum addition (Carolan et al., 1995; Lonergan et al., 1999b) may affect gene regulation and transcription, resulting in well-documented developmental abnorm- alities such as foetal oversize in the bovine (Young et al., 1998). It has also been demonstrated that the gene expres- sion in the developing embryo can be influenced by the BOVINE OOCYTE AND EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT 245 culture environment in vitro (Wrenzycki et al., 1999; Natale et al., 2000). Knijn et al. (2001) compared gene expression in blastocysts derived from in vivo- or in vitro-matured bovine oocytes. No differences were observed in relative abundance for four genes studied, suggesting that maturation is not the major step in the IVP process affecting expression of these genes in the embryo. This would be consistent with the findings of Wrenzycki et al. (1999) and those of the present study, reinforcing the point that the culture system is the major determinant of blastocyst quality, irrespective of the origin of the oocyte. The culture environment can also have a significant effect on embryo metabolism, which may have implica- tions for embryo quality. Embryos generated in a completely defined medium have lower rates of glyco- lysis than those in serum (Krisher et al., 1999). Khurana and Niemann (2000) examined energy meta- bolism in in vivo- and in vitro-derived bovine embryos. In general, the pattern was similar; however, IVP embryos exhibited a 2-fold higher rate of anaerobic glycolysis and produced more lactate. Culture for 72 hr of in vivo produced blastocysts resulted in lactate production similar to that of in vitro produced blastocysts. CONCLUSION In conclusion, events before ovulation determine the ultimate fate of the oocyte but events occurring between the zygote and blastocyst stages determine the blastocyst quality. As pointed out by Hendriksen et al. (2000), the observation that oocytes with identical developmental conditions up to the LH surge (i.e., initiation of meiotic resumption) differ in their ability to reach the blastocyst stage depending on whether they undergo maturation in vivo or in vitro highlights the fact that current IVM methods can still be improved. One route towards improving embryo yields may be the prematuration of the oocyte prior to maturation. While some recent results are encouraging in that oocytes can be reversibly maintained at the germinal vesicle stage without affecting subsequent blastocyst yields (Lone- rgan et al., 1997; Kubelka et al., 2000; Lonergan et al., 2000; Mermillod et al., 2000; Motlik et al., 2000), it has not yet been demonstrated that such an approach can improve the developmental ability of an oocyte. In addition, there is little if any evidence to demon- strate that such blocked oocytes can result in the birth of normal offspring. A more feasible approach in the short term at least will probably be to modify the conditions of in vitro culture to ensure that those blastocysts that do develop are of the highest possible quality. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS D. Rizos was supported by a grant from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation. We thank M. Wade for excellent technical assistance, and T. Harte, and the staff at Lyons for help in maintaining the animals. 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