Epigenetic Modifications of White Blood Cell DNA Caused by Transient Fetal Infection with Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infections cause USD 1.5-2 billion in losses annually. Maternal BVDV after 150 days of gestation causes transient fetal infection (TI) in which the fetal immune response clears the virus.

Pregnancy rates of lactating cows after transfer of in vitro produced embryos using X-sorted sperm.

The main objective was to determine the efficacy of using X-sorted sperm to produce embryos in vitro for transfer into lactating dairy cows. Cows were bred by timed artificial insemination (TAI) using nonsorted semen or X-sorted sperm, or they received a fresh embryo produced in vitro by fertilization with X-sorted or nonsorted sperm using timed embryo transfer (TET). Pregnancy rates at approximately Day 32 averaged over all dairies were 39.

Effects of phenazine ethosulfate during culture of bovine embryos on pregnancy rate, prenatal and postnatal development.

The objective was to evaluate the use of phenazine ethosulfate (PES) during culture of embryos on fetal and postnatal calf development. Oocytes collected from abbatoir-derived ovaries were matured and fertilized, and the resulting embryos were cultured in vitro by standard procedures, in a chemically defined medium plus BSA. Day 0 of culture was 18+/-2h after the onset of IVF.

Characteristics of calves produced with sperm sexed by flow cytometry/cell sorting.

The objectives of this study were to determine whether calves produced by sexed sperm differed from controls and to what extent the sex ratio of calves was altered by the sexing procedure. Data were collected from 1,169 calves produced from sperm sexed by flow cytometry/cell sorting after staining with Hoechst 33342, and 793 calves produced from control sperm during breeding trials between 1997 and 2001. Least squares ANOVA were completed using factors of treatment (sexed vs.

Insemination of heifers with sexed sperm.

Data from inseminating 1,000 heifers consecutively with sexed sperm and 370 heifers with control sperm in 11 small field trials are summarized. Semen was from 22 bulls of unknown fertility of various beef and dairy breeds, and 6 inseminators participated. Freshly collected sperm were sexed using a MoFlo flow cytometer/cell sorter after staining sperm with the DNA-binding dye Hoechst 33342; the principle is that the bovine X chromosome has 3.

Exposure of thawed frozen bull sperm to a synthetic peptide before artificial insemination increases fertility.

We evaluated the effect on fertility of in vitro exposure of thawed frozen bull sperm to synthetic FertPlus peptide prior to artificial insemination (AI). The peptide represented a 60-amino acid sequence within rat prosaposin. Commercial cryopreserved semen was from three Holstein bulls.