Development and Application of Assisted Reproductive Techniques in Livestock and Companion Animals

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Reproduction".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 251

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Precision Livestock Farming and Animal Biotechnics, Institute of Animal Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kaposvár Campus, Guba Sándor Street 40, H-7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Interests: in vitro embryo production; preimplantation genetic diagnosis; micromanipulation; cryopreservation; somatic nuclear transfer; assisted reproductive techniques; animal biotechnology

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Guest Editor
Department of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi Street 138, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Interests: small ruminant assisted reproduction; farm animal reproduction and reproductive physiology; small ruminant artificial insemination; precision livestock techniques

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Precision Livestock Farming and Animal Biotechnics, Institute of Animal Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kaposvár Campus, Guba Sándor Street 40, H-7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Interests: reproductive biology; equine and small ruminant assisted reproduction; farm animal biotechnology; embryo transfer; sperm cryopreservation; precision livestock techniques; gene conservation

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba 305-8634, Japan
Interests: swine in vitro fertilization; oocyte cryopreservation; gene conservation; reproductive biotechnology; vitrification

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue will present assisted reproduction techniques currently used and under development in livestock and companion animals. In addition to presenting the results of research on these techniques, we can also give an idea of the economic rationale behind their use. How can these techniques be used for gene conservation in local breeds? Which of the assisted reproduction techniques are likely to make significant breakthroughs? From an animal welfare perspective, how can animal stress and pain levels be effectively reduced during procedures? Can the use of cell nuclear transfer cloning be integrated into animal breeding practice? Are there new methods for gamete and embryo storage? What is the status of the use of sex sorted semen in different species? For which model experiments can the animal in vitro embryo production model be used? What is the current status and potential of preimplantation genetic testing for genomic breeding value determination and genomic studies in different species. What opportunities does genome editing offer for animal breeding? The Special Issue includes review articles and research publications in this field.

Dr. Szilárd Bodó
Dr. Vass Nóra
Dr. Gabriella Kútvölgyi
Dr. Tamas Somfai
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • assisted reproduction
  • gene conservation
  • preimplantation genetic testing
  • sex sorted semen
  • animal welfare and reproduction
  • in vitro embryo production

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 475 KiB  
Article
Effect of Pre-IVM Duration with cAMP Modulators on the Production of Cloned Equine Embryos and Foals
by Jenin V. Cortez, Kylie Hardwicke, Carlos E. Méndez-Calderón and Christopher G. Grupen
Animals 2025, 15(13), 1961; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15131961 - 3 Jul 2025
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Abstract
The asynchrony of cytoplasmic and nuclear maturation in cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) due to prematurely declining concentrations of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) has been shown to result in reduced oocyte developmental competence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pre-IVM [...] Read more.
The asynchrony of cytoplasmic and nuclear maturation in cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) due to prematurely declining concentrations of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) has been shown to result in reduced oocyte developmental competence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pre-IVM treatment with cAMP modulators for different durations on the developmental potential of equine oocytes used for cloned embryo production. Collected COCs were transferred to cryovials filled with transport medium at 20–22 °C. Within the cryovials, the COCs were either untreated (Control) for 18 h or treated with 50 µM forskolin and 100 µM 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine for the first 4 h (Pre-IVM 4 h) or the entire 18 h (Pre-IVM 18 h). Oocytes were then transferred to maturation medium and incubated for a further 22–24 h at 38.5 °C in 5% CO2 in air. Somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos were then produced using the meiotically mature oocytes and donor cells from six different fibroblast cell lines. The rates of maturation and embryo development did not differ significantly between the groups, though blastocyst formation tended to be inferior in the Pre-IVM 4 h group compared with the Control group (p = 0.06). Of 67 blastocysts produced, 23 were transferred to recipient mares on Day 4 or 5 post-ovulation. Regarding the pregnancy outcomes, no significant differences were found between the groups, and four viable foals were born, each derived from a different donor cell line. The findings expand on those from previous evaluations of this biphasic IVM system, and indicate that the cAMP-modulating treatments exert limited effects under the pre-IVM conditions used here. Full article
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