Embryo recovery and transfer for the production of transgenic goats from Korean native strain, Capra hircus aegagrus

During the breeding season in Korea (September 1997 to April 1998), a goat embryo recovery and transfer program using a Korean native strain ( Capra hircus aegagrus) was performed for the production of transgenic goats. Donors were synchronized with norgestomet implants and superovulated by a combined treatment with FSH and hCG. The treatment regime induced a consistent and efficient superovulation rate of 90% from donors with an ovulation rate of 12.1 ± 0.5. 50.5% of the recovered oocytes/embryos were fertilized and most of them were at the 1-cell stage. After DNA microinjection, a total of 188 embryos were immediately transferred to naturally cycling or hormonally synchronized recipients with two or three embryos per animal. There was a tendency for the pregnancy rate of naturally cycling recipients to be higher (38.9%) than that of hormonally synchronized recipients (25.7%). When the recipients were classified into a two or three embryo-received group, the embryo viability was markedly decreased from 58.3% in two embryo-received group to 35.3% in three embryo-received group, without an increase in the kidding rate. This resulted from a high occurrence of abortions or stillbirths from the multiple-pregnant recipients which had received three embryos. This indicated that the transfer of two embryos per recipient is highly recommendable for an optimal embryo survival in Korean goats. Altogether, 188 embryos were transferred to 71 recipients and two transgenic Korean goats were produced from 25 offspring.