Comparison of surrogate eggshell and egg windowing techniques aiming chick hatchability

• Grant number: 16/05684-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2016
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Jose Garcia Pereira
• Grantee: Daniel Grigoletto de Biase
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Embryo studies enabled the progress of several areas of expertise as tissue origin and synthesis, stem cell function, clone and chimera production, among others. Due to interspecific similarities in embryonic development, chicken embryos have been widely used as models because of their speed of growth, reduced size and convenience to purchase and handle. However, typically, research in embryology employs innumerous eggs at different development stages to observe cell differentiation and tissue formation. To avoid this problem, investigators established a method to culture chicken embryos in surrogate eggshells, which allow us to visualize and manipulate embryos without development interference. Nevertheless, transferring embryos to larger eggshells is considered a complicated task since it can damage both embryo and its appendices leading to death. Thus, our objective is to compare surrogate eggshell and egg windowing techniques in order to verify differences in embryo mortality throughout incubation, and also to analyze their practicability in a lab routine. To this end, fertile eggs will be incubated for 72 hours and divided into two groups: (A) eggshell surrogate and (B) egg windowing. After processing, eggs will return to the incubator and embryo viability will be recorded daily until hatching. Data provided herein may ease and shorten embryo culture aiming hatchability, an approach that has applications in diverse reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, germ cell transplantation, cloning, chimerism, transgenesis, etc.