Development of in vitro produced bovine embryos in four different culture media

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the developmental ability of embryos in 4 different media, CR1aa, modified CR2, BCEM-g and TCM-199. Bovine oocytes were matured and then fertilized ill vitro. A total of 915 oocytes were used for fertilization, 691 (74%) of which cleaved, The 2-cell embryos were divided into 4 groups, and cultured in 1 of the 4 different culture media. Percentage of development to morula-blastocyst stage from the 2 cell stage were determined as 46. 31, 30 and 28% for CR1aa, CR2, BCEM-g and TCM-199 culture media respectively. The development rate obtained with CR1aa was significantly higher (P<0.01) compared to that with the other media.