Lipid Content and Cryopreservation of Jersey Cattle Embryos

Cryopreservation of in vivo derived Jersey bovine embryos have resulted in 10% lower pregnancy rate compared to other dairy breeds. Poor embryo survival after cryopreservation has been partially attributed to the high lipid content of Jersey cattle embryos. We hypothesized that the lipid content of in vivo and in vitro produced (IVP) Jersey embryos is higher than respective Holstein embryos. The objectives of this experiment were (1) to analyze lipid content of in vivo and IVP Jersey cattle embryos and (2) evaluate Jersey IVP embryo survival rates after three cryopreservation procedures. For experiment one, IVP embryos (n=60) were produced by standard procedures, briefly oocytes were aspirated from 2 to 8 mm follicles from slaughterhouse ovaries then matured for 24h in SMM medium (BoviPro, MOFA Global, Verona, WI). [...]