POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION AND FLUORESCENT IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION USED FOR BOVINE EMBRYO SEXING

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the results obtained for bovine embryo sexing using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and to compare them in order to decide which of the two methods is more accurate and yields better results while necessitating less effort. We took into consideration the pregnancy rate obtained after the transfer of biopsied embryos, the percentage of correctly sexed embryos evaluated at birth (when the predicted sex was compared with the actual sex of the newborn) as well as other characteristics related to the difficulty of the method, expenses and suitability to a minimally equipped laboratory. We concluded that the polymerase chain reaction is the most accurate and suitable method for sexing preimplantation bovine embryos, being in the same time easier to perform than the fluorescence in situ hybridization.