Morphokinetics of Porcine and Bovine Embryos and Anomalies in Their Development

The objective of this study was to evaluate the kinetics of bovine and porcine embryos that failed or developed to the blastocyst stage and anomalies in cleavage using a time-lapse monitoring system. The timing of early cleavages and their duration were similar for bovine and porcine embryos that developed to the blastocyst stage. There were differences in the time of first and second cell division of the bovine embryos that developed and those that did not develop to blastocyst stage (P=0.004 and P=0.002), respectively. Similarly, in case of porcine embryos such difference was observed only in the time of first cleavage (P=0.0001). Direct cleavage from 1-cell to 3 cells occurred in 13.47% and to more than 3 cells in 3.37% of porcine embryos whereas to 3-cells occurred in 4.23% of bovine embryos. The reverse cleavage was observed in 4.33% of porcine and 8.45% of bovine embryos. Conclusion: Our study showed: 1) The similarities in timing and duration of early cleavages of bovine and porcine embryos during development to the blastocyst stage, 2) Differences in morphokinetic parameters between bovine and porcine embryos developing or non-developing to the blastocyst, 3) Anomalies in cleaving of in vitro developing bovine and porcine embryos.