 Project 2.2 Molecular Diagnosis of Bovine Embryos
Project Leader: Dr Sigrid Lehnert - CSIRO Livestock Industries
Genetic improvement of the Australian dairy herd would be increased if more genetically superior animals were used for breeding. By increasing the contribution of superior females, the industry would chieve higher rates of genetic gain. This system requires the use of embryos rather than semen in articficial breeding technology his project aims to contribute to the development of reliable in vitro production methods that will increase the affordability of using embyros. Molecular diagnostics are being developed to allow precise monitoring of gene expression in preimplantation embryos. This monitoring technology is anticipated in future to allow the healthiest, most viable, embryos to be identified before they are implanted. This will improve success rates and lower costs.
AIMS:
1.To develop a diagnostic test utilising biomarkers for blastocyst developmental competence.
2.To develop a diagnostic test for oocyte competence.
3. To develop a diagnostic test for the presence of genetic markers in embryos.
Progress 2004-05
Using expressed sequence tags (ESTs) publicly available in GenBank, together with the CRC’s own candidate gene database, the project team designed and tested the first bovine “preimplantation transcriptome” oligo microarray. Existing microarrays for the bovine contain only a very small number of probes from these early developmental stages. CRC scientists have extracted a probe set of several thousand embyo-derived genes to allow precise monitoring of gene expression in preimplantation embryos.
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