Produção in vitro de embrião (PIVE) na espécie bubalina

In recent years, the biotechnology of in vitro embryo production (IVP) in buffalo has undergone a great improvement, allowing its application at the commercial level. However, the rate of embryo production per donor is still very low, reflecting directly on the cost of pregnancy that is about 3-4 times higher than zebu cattle. This low embryo rate occurs due to several factors. Among the most important are the intrinsic factors related to the animals such as the low quantity and quality of the oocytes obtained by the donor, but also to extrinsic factors such as the lack of specific culture media for the oocyte/embryo, and deficiencies in the management conditions, that could be nutritional or sanitary. Therefore, for the expansion in commercial application, it is necessary to reduce the cost of pregnancy, as well as to provide animals of proven productivity (progeny test) for use in PIVE programs and that from the cost / benefit point of view compensate the use of a high cost technique such as PIVE.