Effects of fusion/activation methods on development of embryos produced by nuclear transfer of porcine fetal fibroblast

The present studies were carried out to investigate the effects of intensity of dc pulse, number of dc pulse and equilibration before fusion/activation on developmental ability of porcine embryos derived from nuclear transfer. In experiment 1, different fusion/activation intensity (two dc pulses of 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0 kV/cm for 30 micros, respectively) was carried out to investigate development of embryos. In experiment 2, the reconstructed oocytes were fused and activated with one, two or three dc pulses of 1.2 kV/cm for 30 micros. In experiment 3, reconstructed oocytes were equilibrated in TCM-199 medium for 0-6 h, respectively, and fused/activated with one dc pulse of 1.2 kV/cm for 30 micros. The reconstructed embryos were cultured in PZM-3 medium containing 0.3% BSA. When oocytes were fused with donor cell by two dc pulses of 0.4 kV/cm for 30 micros, the rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation were significantly lower (32.9% and 2.5%) than those of fused by 0.8 kV/cm (59.0% and 17.4%) or 1.2 kV/cm (63.3% and 18.4%), respectively. One dc pulse of 1.2 kV/cm for 30 micros was enough to fuse and activate embryos to develop to blastocyst (24.8%). Equilibration for 2-3 h in TCM-199 before fusion/activation was beneficial for improving the developmental ability of embryos produced by nuclear transfer (25.6-23.3% at blastocysts).