The interaction between ovulation rate and embryo survival in determining prolificacy of different strains of obese swine with gene polymorphisms for leptin receptors

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Torres-Rovira ◽  
P. Gonzalez-Añover ◽  
P. Pallares ◽  
M. L. Pérez-Solana ◽  
S. Astiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Polymorphisms ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Embryo Survival ◽  
Intrinsic Factors ◽  
Leptin Receptors ◽  
Iberian Pig ◽  
Different Strains

The Mediterranean Iberian pigs show a clear predisposition to obesity, due to gene polymorphisms for leptin receptors, and a lower prolificacy when compared with lean breeds. Previous studies indicate a bimodal effect of obese genotypes on prolificacy; either by lowering ovulation rate or by increasing embryo losses when compared with lean genotypes. The present study aimed to discriminate the relative influence of both parameters by comparing strains of Iberian females with different prolificacy (14 original purebred Retinto, group R, and 20 Retinto × Torbiscal females selected for prolificacy, group RT). Examination of ovaries around Day 40 of pregnancy showed a higher ovulation rate in the RT than in the R sows (21.5 ± 1.4 versus 12.3 ± 1.0 corpora lutea, respectively; P < 0.0005). However, there was a higher incidence of implantation failures and early embryo losses in the RT females (42.9 versus 14% for the group R; P < 0.005). Thus, the number of viable embryos was higher in the RT line (10.8 ± 0.5 versus 7.6 ± 0.7 in the R sows, P < 0.0005), but also limited when compared with ovulation rate. Conversely, this effect was not found in the R sows; however, prolificacy of these females was limited by higher embryo mortality (24.1 versus 4.6% for RT females). In conclusion, the present study evidences dissimilar reproductive behaviour among strains of the Iberian pig differing in prolificacy and confirms previous evidences suggesting the existence of intrinsic factors avoiding excessively large litter sizes in Iberian females.

scholarly journals Effects of flush feeding strategy before breeding on reproductive performance of modern replacement gilts: impacts on ovulation rate and litter traits

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
André L Mallmann ◽  
Lidia S Arend ◽  
Gabriela S Oliveira ◽  
Ana P G Mellagi ◽  
Rafael R Ulguim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Litter Size ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Feeding Strategy ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Embryo Survival ◽  
Estrous Cycles ◽  
Litter Traits

Abstract AbstractThe effects of two feed levels offered during two estrous cycles before insemination were evaluated on the reproductive performance of gilts. A total of 93 gilts (PIC Hendersonville, TN) were individually housed and manually fed twice a day with 2.1 or 3.6 kg/d of a corn and soybean meal-based diet (3.15 Mcal ME/kg and 0.64% standardized ileal digestible lysine), during two estrous cycles before breeding (cycle 1, between first and second estrus; cycle 2, between second and third estrus). Gilts were weighed at the beginning of the experiment, at second and third estrus, and at slaughter (30.2 ± 1.2 d of gestation). Follicles were counted at second estrus, and the embryo-placental units and the corpora lutea were individually counted, measured, and weighed at slaughter. Gilts fed 3.6 kg/d had greater BW gain during cycle 1 and cycle 2 (P &lt; 0.001; + 9.8 kg and + 10.0 kg, respectively) becoming heavier at second and third estrus (P &lt; 0.001). At second estrus, gilts fed 3.6 kg/d had 1.6 more medium-large follicles (P = 0.074) but no difference in follicle size (P = 0.530) was observed. Gilts fed 3.6 kg/d in cycle 1 or cycle 2 had a greater ovulation rate at third estrus (P &lt; 0.016) than those receiving 2.1 kg/d. Also, 3.6 kg/d in cycle 2 increased early embryo mortality (P = 0.006; 2.3 vs. 1.1 dead embryos) and consequently reduced total embryo survival (P = 0.002; 84.6 vs. 90.1%). Gilts fed 3.6 kg/d during cycle 1 had two more total embryos (P &lt; 0.001; 17.2 vs. 15.1) and two more vital embryos on day 30 (P &lt; 0.001; 16.7 vs. 14.5) in comparison with gilts fed 2.1 kg/d. The coefficient of variation for placental length was greater for gilts fed 3.6 kg/d during cycle 1 (P = 0.003). No further significant effects of feeding levels were observed on embryo and placental traits (P ≥ 0.063). These results suggest that the feeding level during the first cycle after pubertal estrus is crucial to set ovulation rate and potential litter size for breeding at next estrus. However, flush feeding gilts before insemination can negatively impact litter size by reducing embryo survival when breeding at third estrus.

Fertility in Cheviot ewes. 2. The effect of level of pre-mating nutrition on ovulation rate and early embryo mortality in North and South Country Cheviot ewes in moderately-good condition at mating

1979 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Gunn ◽  
J. M. Doney ◽  
W. F. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Restricted Feeding ◽  
Embryo Mortality ◽  
The North ◽  
Breed Difference ◽  
High Level

ABSTRACTIn two experiments over 2 years, 57 North Country Cheviot and 82 South Country Cheviot hill ewes were differentially group-fed indoors over a 2-month period to achieve either good or moderate body con- dition. Over 5 weeks prior to mating, ewes in good condition were brought down in condition by restricted feeding and ewes in mod- erate condition were raised in condition by a high level of feeding. The ewes were thus in moderately-good condition at mating. After mating, ewes were maintained in this condition until killed either on return to service or at 29 ± 8 days for counts of corpora lutea and viable embryos.Ovulation rate in each breed was positively related to the level of pre-mating food intake at the condition level studied. Embryo mortality, as ova loss, was not influenced overall by the level of pre-mating food intake but loss of multiple-shed ova was greater than that of single-shed ova in ewes which had been on restricted feeding before mating. Although a greater proportion of ewes in the North Country Cheviot breed were not pregnant at slaughter, this could not be identified as a breed difference since the breeds were studied in different years.

scholarly journals Female Mice Haploinsufficient for an Inactivated Androgen Receptor (AR) Exhibit Age-Dependent Defects That Resemble the AR Null Phenotype of Dysfunctional Late Follicle Development, Ovulation, and Fertility

Endocrinology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 148 (8) ◽  
pp. 3674-3684 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Walters ◽  
C. M. Allan ◽  
M. Jimenez ◽  
P. R. Lim ◽  
R. A. Davey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Androgen Receptor ◽  
Ovarian Function ◽  
Gene Dosage ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Cell Stage ◽  
Gene Dosage Effect ◽  
Female Mice ◽  
Age Dependent

The role of classical genomic androgen receptor (AR) mediated actions in female reproductive physiology remains unclear. Female mice homozygous for an in-frame deletion of exon 3 of the Ar (AR−/−) were subfertile, exhibiting delayed production of their first litter (AR+/+ = 22 d vs. AR−/− = 61 d, P &lt; 0.05) and producing 60% fewer pups/litter (AR+/+: 8.1 ± 0.4 vs. AR−/−: 3.2 ± 0.9, P &lt; 0.01). Heterozygous females (AR+/−) exhibited an age-dependent 55% reduction (P &lt; 0.01) in pups per litter, evident from 6 months of age (P &lt; 0.05), compared with AR+/+, indicating a significant gene dosage effect on female fertility. Ovulation was defective with a significant reduction in corpora lutea numbers (48–79%, P &lt; 0.01) in 10- to 12- and 26-wk-old AR+/− and AR−/− females and a 57% reduction in oocytes recovered from naturally mated AR−/− females (AR+/+: 9.8 ± 1.0 vs. AR−/−: 4.2 ± 1.2, P &lt; 0.01); however, early embryo development to the two-cell stage was unaltered. The delay in first litter, reduction in natural ovulation rate, and aromatase expression in AR+/− and AR−/− ovaries, coupled with the restored ovulation rate by gonadotropin hyperstimulation in AR−/− females, suggest aberrant gonadotropin regulation. A 2.7-fold increase (AR+/+: 35.4 ± 13.4 vs. AR−/−: 93.9 ± 6.1, P &lt; 0.01) in morphologically unhealthy antral follicles demonstrated deficiencies in late follicular development, although growing follicle populations and growth rates were unaltered. This novel model reveals that classical genomic AR action is critical for normal ovarian function, although not for follicle depletion and that haploinsufficiency for an inactivated AR may contribute to a premature reduction in female fecundity.

Short-term undernutrition and prenatal mortality in young and mature Merino ewes

1975 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Mackenzie ◽  
T. N. Edey
Keyword(s):  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Embryo Survival ◽  
Body Weights ◽  
Cycle Lengths ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
The Right

SUMMARYPrenatal mortality was examined in 74 primiparous Merino ewes which, after hand mating to fertile rams on the second oestrus following synchronization, were allocated to two groups. One group of 38 ewes was confined to yards and restricted to approximately 30% of their maintenance requirement for 14 days while the other group of 36 remained at pasture. The degree and timing of prenatal loss was assessed by corpora lutea counts, pregnancy diagnosis about day 40, returns to service and lambing records.The mean ovulation rate was 1·06 and the 19-day non-return rate was 87·8%. Pregnancy failed in a higher proportion of the underfed ewes (45·0%) than in the control ewes (30·8%) but this difference did not reach significance. Of the ewes returning to service, significantly more did so with cycles longer than 19 days in the underfed group (9/12) than in the control group (2/8), indicating that in the latter stages, the treatment may have been detrimental to embryo survival.In a second experiment, ovulation rate and prenatal mortality, assessed as in the first experiment, were studied in 85 mature Merino ewes subjected to the following nutritional treatments: HH, control; HL, 30% submaintenance feeding for 14 days following mating; LH, 15% submaintenance feeding for 7 days prior to mating; LL, both submaintenance treatments.Acute undernutrition prior to mating (LH) had no effect on ovulation rate or prenatal mortality. Ovulation rates were low over all groups (mean 1·09) and thus precluded any valid examination of ovulation rate and body weight relationships. The right ovary was significantly more active in producing ova than the left in all groups (P < 0·05). Although ova wastage was apparently higher in. the post-mating undernutrition groups (HL, 44%; LL, 48%; LH, 50%) than in the control group (HH, 35%), the differences were not significant. An increased incidence of extended (> 19 days) first-return cycle lengths in group LL provided some evidence of induced prenatal mortality.In so far as the experiments can be considered together, they indicate that if body weights are comparable, primiparous 1½-year-old ewes are not necessarily more susceptible than mature ewes to prenatal mortality induced by severe short-term undernutrition.

The interaction of nutrition and body condition at mating on ovulation rate and early embryo mortality in Scottish Blackface ewes

1975 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Gunn ◽  
J. M. Doney
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Service Rate ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Embryo Mortality ◽  
Poor Condition ◽  
High Level

SUMMARYOne hundred and fifty-six Scottish Blackface ewes were differentially group-fed over a 2-month period to achieve three distinct levels of body condition (good, moderate and very poor). Over 5 weeks prior to mating, one group of good-condition ewes was maintained in that condition, one group of good- and one of moderate-condition ewes were brought down in condition by restricted feeding and one group of moderate and the very poor condition ewes were raised in condition by a high level of feeding. Ewes were therefore in good, moderately good or poor condition at mating. After mating, ewes were killed either on return to service or at 25 ± 5 days for counts of corpora lutea and viable embryos.Poor body condition, irrespective of feeding level, was associated with a delay or suppression of oestrus and with a high return-to-service rate. Ovulation rate was positively related to body condition at mating but not to the level of pre-mating food intake at the condition levels studied.Embryo mortality decreased as body condition at mating increased and the interaction between condition and the level of pre-mating food intake had a differential effect on mortality of single- and multiple-shed ova. The lowest rate of embryo mortality was found in ewes in moderately good condition which had been well-fed before mating.

Fertility in Cheviot ewes. 1. The effect of body condition at mating on ovulation rate and early embryo mortality in North and South Country Cheviot ewes

1979 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Gunn ◽  
J. M. Doney
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Embryo Mortality ◽  
Breed Type ◽  
The North ◽  
Breed Difference ◽  
North And South ◽  
Lambing Rate

ABSTRACTIn two experiments over 2 years, 113 North Country Cheviot and 132 South Country Cheviot hill ewes were differentially group-fed over a 10-week period to achieve either good or moderate body con- dition. Ewes were maintained in these levels of condition over the 5 weeks prior to mating. After mating, ewes were killed either on return to service or between days 23 and 85 for counts of corpora lutea and viable embryos.Ovulation rate in each breed was positively related to body condition at mating. Embryo mortality, as ova loss, was not influenced overall by breed, type of ovulation, year of recording, or body condition. Although comparisons of loss were partly confounded by a differen- tial distribution in the number of ova shed in each breed and body condition group, there was an apparent breed difference in loss of single- and multiple-shed ova. Potential lambing rate therefore showed greater response to improved body condition at mating in the North Country Cheviot breed than it did in the South Country Cheviot.

Reproductive performance and milk production of the improved Awassi breed as compared with its crosses with the Booroola Merino

1995 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Gootwine ◽  
A. Bor ◽  
R. Braw-Tal ◽  
A. Zenou
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Embryo Survival ◽  
Average Birth Weight ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Lamb Survival ◽  
Awassi Breed

AbstractOvulation rate, embryo survival, lamb production, lamb survival and milk production of Awassi and BooroolaAwassi crossbred ewes, kept indoors, were compared. Awassi were non-carriers while Booroola × Awassi (F1) and about half of 3/4 Awassi-1/4 Booroola (BQ) ewes were heterozygous at the FecB gene. Mean ovulation rate increased by 1·5 to 1·6 corpora lutea per ewe ovulating and prolificacy by 0·7 lambs born per ewe lambing in Fj and BC1 (B+) ewes as compared with Awassi. Embryo survival rates in BC1 ewes with two, three and four ovulations were 0·83, 0·68 and 0·71, respectively. Lamb survival rates at 1 day of age were 0·93, 0·90 and 0·77 and average birth weight was 4·9, 4·0 and 3·0 kg for lambs born as singles, twins and triplets, respectively. Average milk production of the Awassi was 506 I per ewe per lactation. F1 and BC1 ewes produced respectively, proportionately 0·48 and 0·63 of the Awassi milk production and there was no significant difference in milk production between BC1,(B+) and BC1(++) ewes. The relatively low milk production of the Booroola Awassi crosses suggests that heterosis and recombination effects on milk production were negative. It is concluded that incorporation of the B allele per se can increase lamb production in the Awassi without affecting its milk production.

The effect of feeding a diet high in fibre during the rearing period on reproduction in gilts

1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 ◽  
pp. 67-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.L. Glasgow ◽  
S.A. Edwards ◽  
T.G. McEvoy ◽  
M. Shanks
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Beet ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Embryo Viability ◽  
Embryo Survival ◽  
Flat Rate ◽  
Pregnancy And Lactation ◽  
Effect Of Feeding

Feeding diets high in fibre to breeding sows has been found to have a positive effect on reproductive performance. Danske Slagterier (1994) found a significant increase in litter size when sows were fed a diet containing high levels of unmolassed sugar beet pulp (USBP) during pregnancy and lactation. Litter size is influenced by two main factors; ovulation rate and embryo survival. Glasgow et al (1996) found no increase in ovulation rate in gilts fed high USBP diets. This experiment was designed to assess the effect of feeding a high USBP diet on endocrinology and early embryo viability.The experiment was of a randomised block design incorporating two diets; a cereal based diet (C) and a diet containing 50% unmolassed sugar beet (HF). 72 gilts of lean genotype (Newsham Hybrids) were allocated to treament at 138 days of age, housed in groups of 6 and had liveweight and backfat thickness recorded fortnightly. For the first 8 weeks, HF gilts were fed ad-libitum and C gilts were pair fed to the same daily energy intake. Subsequently, gilts were floor fed isoenergetically at a flat rate of 2.8 kg/d (HF) and 2.3 kg/d (C).

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