Variability of individual genetic load: consequences for the detection of inbreeding depression.

Inbreeding depression is a key factor affecting the persistence of natural populations, particularly when they are fragmented. In species with mixed mating systems, inbreeding depression can be estimated at the population level by regressing the average progeny fitness by the selfing rate of their mothers. We applied this method using simulated populations to investigate how population genetic parameters can affect the detection power of inbreeding depression.

Efficient derivation of bovine embryonic stem cells needs more than active core pluripotency factors.

Pluripotency can be captured in vitro, providing that the culture environment meets the requirements that avoid differentiation while stimulating self-renewal. From studies in the mouse embryo, two kinds of pluripotent stem cells have been obtained from the early and late epiblast, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs), representing the naive and primed states, respectively. All attempts to derive convincing ESCs in ungulates have been unsuccessful, although all attempts were based on the assumption that the conditions used to derive mouse ESCs or human ESC could be applied in other species.