Modern Reproductive Biotechnology Assists Farm Animal Conservation and Genetic Rescue

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Farm Animal Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2024) | Viewed by 13847

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Reproductive Biotechnology and Cryoconservation, National Research Institute of Animal Production, Balice near Kraków, Poland
Interests: reproductive biology and biotechnology; modern assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs); cryopreservation and culture engineering of gametes and embryos; in vitro fertilization (IVF) by either standard gamete co-incubation or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI); advanced approaches to cytobiochemically and molecularly evaluate the quality parameters of spermatozoa, oocytes and embryos; transgenic research; deciphering the transcriptomic and proteomic profiles in somatic cell lines and gametes; the ART-based programs of ex situ biodiversity conservation to protect the genetic resources of farm animals

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Guest Editor
Department of Reproductive Biotechnology and Cryoconservation, National Research Institute of Animal Production, Balice near Kraków, Poland
Interests: reproductive biology and biotechnology in a wide variety of mammalian species (including livestock species); assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs)—experimental and applied embryology; intra- and interspecies cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT); transgenesis; parthenogenetic activation of oocytes; in vitro embryo production (IVP)—in vitro oocyte maturation (IVM), in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI); epigenetic mechanisms in somatic cell/stem cell and embryo culture engineering; unravelling the transcriptomic and proteomic profiles in somatic cell/stem cell lines and gametes; the ART-mediated programs of ex situ biodiversity conservation to protect the genetic resources of farm animals
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Within the framework of biodiversity protection programs, banking of the germplasm-carrier biological materials (male gametes and in vivo- or in vitro-produced embryos) by their ex situ preservation can be used as an ancillary strategy for not only maintaining and protecting the farm animal populations but also for the re-establishment and re-introduction into anthropogenic agricultural ecosystems of livestock breeds that disappear or significantly decrease in number. For all the above-mentioned reasons, the establishment and subsequent preservation of genetically stable or permanent primary cell cultures and somatic cell lines originating from different tissue bioptates provides an alternative or complementary research highlight in relation to gamete and embryo freezing or vitrification procedures.

The modern assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in farm animals are mainly based on in vitro embryo production (IVP) systems that include three inevitable steps, as has been consecutively indicated: the in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes, their in vitro fertilization (IVF) or reconstruction by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), and the in vitro culture (IVC) of fertilized or cloned embryos. Similar to other ARTs such as classic artificial insemination (AI), IVF frequently requires the use of cryopreserved or lyophilized spermatozoa, and can either be accomplished by standard gamete co-incubation, or can be assisted microsurgically by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) into meiotically matured oocytes.

Innovative ART-mediated tools appear to be indispensable to genetically rescue and perpetuate the long-term ex situ conservation of biodiversity in indigenous breeds of various livestock species, including near-threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically imperiled, vanishing and even extinct farm animal breeds.

Cumulatively, this Special Issue opens the possibility of publishing research articles, comprehensive reviews and short communications aimed at research highlights encompassing the efficient approaches that enable the protection of genetic resources derived from endangered farm animal species from extinction and to successfully retain the ex situ and/or in situ conservation of biodiversity in livestock species.

Dr. Monika Trzcińska
Prof. Dr. Marcin Samiec
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs)
  • ex situ and/or in situ protection of livestock species
  • biodiversity conservation
  • endangered or extinct livestock breeds
  • genetic resources

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 641 KiB  
Article
Trehalose as a Stabilizer of the Lipid Composition of Membranes and the Composition of the Cytosol of Frozen/Thawed Rooster Spermatozoa
by Olga Stanishevskaya, Yulia Silyukova, Vera Tereshina, Elena Ianutsevich, Nikolai Pleshanov, Anton Kurochkin and Elena Fedorova
Agriculture 2023, 13(7), 1387; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13071387 - 12 Jul 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1662
Abstract
Low-temperature semen storage technologies are already being used in poultry conservation programs, but the quality of reproductive material stored in cryobanks varies greatly and cannot always be successfully used for practical purposes. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the compositions of cryoprotective media [...] Read more.
Low-temperature semen storage technologies are already being used in poultry conservation programs, but the quality of reproductive material stored in cryobanks varies greatly and cannot always be successfully used for practical purposes. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the compositions of cryoprotective media to improve their quality. This study aimed to investigate the composition of membrane lipids and carbohydrates in the cytosol of rooster spermatozoa, to explain the dose-dependent effect of a combination of trehalose and fructose in cryoprotective media on the preservation of their morphological and kinetic parameters during freezing/thawing, and to determine the most effective diluent composition. Ejaculates were collected from Rhode Island Red roosters (n = 10). The effectiveness of three diluents containing trehalose was evaluated: LCM-control (0 mM), Treh20 (9.5 mM), and Treh30 (13.4 mM). Chromatographic analysis of membrane lipids, carbohydrates, and polyols of the spermatozoa cytosol was performed. A decrease in the content of glycolipids in the plasma membranes of spermatozoa from 2.0% in native spermatozoa to 1.1–1.4% (frozen/thawed) and phospholipids from 71.2% (native) to 70.5% (frozen/thawed) reduced the progressive sperm motility from 65.7% in native spermatozoa to 12.6–27.6% (frozen/thawed). The same dynamics were observed for the viability parameter of 90.4% (native) and 27.0–41.2% (frozen/thawed). The Treh20 diluent, using a combination of fructose (36 mM) and trehalose (9.5 mM) saccharides, maximally preserved the lipid profile of plasma membranes and the composition of the cytosol of frozen/thawed rooster spermatozoa, which positively affected the indicators of general and progressive mobility and viability. Full article
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Review

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15 pages, 335 KiB  
Review
Creating Ex Situ Protected Bioreservoirs as a Powerful Strategy for the Reproductive Biotechnology-Mediated Rescue of Threatened Polish Livestock Breeds
by Monika Trzcińska, Marcin Samiec and Małgorzata Duda
Agriculture 2023, 13(7), 1426; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13071426 - 19 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1375
Abstract
The current article presents the state of the art of the creation of bioreservoirs of cryopreserved somatic and stem cell lines and cryopreserved or lyophilized germplasm-based resources of selected farm animal species. It also presents the agricultural, biological and biotechnological determinants, and showcases [...] Read more.
The current article presents the state of the art of the creation of bioreservoirs of cryopreserved somatic and stem cell lines and cryopreserved or lyophilized germplasm-based resources of selected farm animal species. It also presents the agricultural, biological and biotechnological determinants, and showcases the importance of the National Research Institute of Animal Production (NRIAP) in Poland in this process. The aforementioned bioreservoirs serve as an innovative research tool used for cryogenically or lyophilizogenically assisted and species-specific ex situ conservation. The latter ensures, in the long term, not only restitution, but also perpetuation of sustainable biodiversity that underlies genotypic and phenotypic, intra- and inter-population variability within pure-breeding herds of the national conserved livestock breeds. Full article
16 pages, 3378 KiB  
Review
Chicken Sperm Cryopreservation: Review of Techniques, Freezing Damage, and Freezability Mechanisms
by Yunhe Zong, Yunlei Li, Yanyan Sun, Gamal M. K. Mehaisen, Tianxiao Ma and Jilan Chen
Agriculture 2023, 13(2), 445; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13020445 - 14 Feb 2023
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 9242
Abstract
Ex situ preservation is an important method in the preservation of chickens, and cryopreservation of semen is the only method for gamete preservation at present. During the last two decades, many studies have been performed to develop standard chicken semen cryopreservation technology and [...] Read more.
Ex situ preservation is an important method in the preservation of chickens, and cryopreservation of semen is the only method for gamete preservation at present. During the last two decades, many studies have been performed to develop standard chicken semen cryopreservation technology and achieve great progress. Many attempts and methods were investigated to adapt subspecies or different breeds. In this paper, we firstly reviewed the main factors affecting cryopreservation of chicken sperm, including the unique structure and characteristics of the spermatozoa. Secondly, the studies on key points of the chicken sperm cryopreservation technology, including semen dilution, cryoprotectants, equilibration time, packaging types, and freezing and thawing rates were summarized to generate the optimal parameters. Then, the mechanism underlying freezing damage and freezability revealed by recent omics methods relevant to the efficiency of cryopreservation were discussed. This review will provide relevant reference for the future investigation of poultry semen cryopreservation technology. Full article
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