The Application of Reproductive Technologies for Wildlife Management

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 1692

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Animal Science, Berry College, Mount Berry, GA 30149, USA
Interests: assisted reproductive technologies; wildlife; equids; ungulates; in vitro fertilization; cryopreservation; endocrinology; metabolomics; obesity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reproductive management is an important component of wildlife conservation as many species managed by zoos are threatened with extinction. In contrast, some wildlife species, especially invasive species need to be controlled and contraception is one method for reducing numbers. This Special Issue aims to present basic and applied research as well as reviews that increase our understanding of reproductive processes and the use of reproductive management to increase or inhibit reproduction of wildlife species. 

The scope of this Special Issue includes reproductive technologies as they are applied to wildlife and wildlife management. Topics include but are not limited to endocrinology; early embryo development, pregnancy detection; development of molecular markers to assess fertility, sperm/oocyte/embryo quality, and contraception. Special consideration will be given to papers that address assisted reproductive technologies such as vitrification, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), genetic analysis using embryo biopsies, embryo transfer, animal cloning, fertility preservation, and artificial insemination; molecular and metabolic understanding of oocyte and embryo development; oocyte and embryo culture; embryo outgrowth; and computer-assisted semen and embryo analysis. We hope that this issue will provide insights into advancements in the field of reproductive technologies as they are applied to wildlife.

Dr. Dawn Bresnahan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • wildlife
  • oocytes
  • embryos
  • spermatozoa
  • cryopreservation
  • in vitro fertilization
  • assisted reproductive technologies
  • artificial insemination
  • embryo culture
  • estrous cycle detection
  • pregnancy detection
  • contraception

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 1172 KiB  
Article
Identification and Preliminary Analysis of Granulosa Cell Biomarkers to Predict Oocyte In Vitro Maturation Outcome in the Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum)
by Elena Ruggeri, Kristin Klohonatz, Barbara Durrant and Marc-André Sirard
Animals 2024, 14(23), 3538; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14233538 - 7 Dec 2024
Viewed by 901
Abstract
In recent years, biomarkers in granulosa cells (GC) have been determined and associated in several species with oocyte maturation, in vitro fertilization success, and embryo development outcomes. The identification of biomarkers of oocyte competence can aid in improving assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in [...] Read more.
In recent years, biomarkers in granulosa cells (GC) have been determined and associated in several species with oocyte maturation, in vitro fertilization success, and embryo development outcomes. The identification of biomarkers of oocyte competence can aid in improving assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in the southern white rhino (SWR). This study aimed to identify biomarkers present in SWR GC associated with oocytes that either did or did not mature in vitro. We evaluated follicle development (FD), meiotic competence (MC), cell death and atresia (CDA), and embryonic genome activation (EGA). Our objective was to design biomarkers to predict oocyte in vitro maturation results in the SWR. RNA was isolated from GC obtained during ovum pick up (OPU) for qPCR analysis. Overall, 22 genes were assessed, and nine were differentially expressed between GC from oocytes that did or did not mature in vitro (FD-GDF9 and mTOR; MC-GGPS1, JMY, and NPR2; CDA-COL4A1, MACIR, and TMPO; EGA-NFYA). From these data, we determined that GC can be used as a predictor for oocyte in vitro maturation outcome in the SWR. Our results provide crucial information needed to improve in vitro maturation and ARTs in this species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Application of Reproductive Technologies for Wildlife Management)
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