Rederivation by Cryopreservation of a Paternal Line of Rabbits Suggests Exhaustion of Selection for Post-Weaning Daily Weight Gain after 37 Generations.

Rabbit selection programmes have mainly been evaluated using unselected or divergently selected populations, or populations rederived from cryopreserved embryos after a reduced number of generations. Nevertheless, unselected and divergent populations do not avoid genetic drift, while rederived animals seem to influence phenotypic traits such as birth and adult weights or prolificacy. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of a long-term selection for post-weaning average daily weight gain (ADG) over 37 generations with two rederived populations.

Foetal and postnatal exposure to high temperatures alter growth pattern but do not modify reproductive function in male rabbits.

Purpose: The 'foetal origin hypothesis' postulates that a number of organ structures and associated functions undergo programming during embryonic and foetal life and the neonatal period, which determines the set point of physiological and metabolic responses that carry into adulthood. We evaluate the relationship between high environmental temperatures and the reproductive function of male offspring to determine whether pregnant mammals and their infants are potentially vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Methods: Rabbit pups were exposed to high temperatures during gestation and lactation.

In vitro and in vivo viability of vitrified and non-vitrified embryos derived from eCG and FSH treatment in rabbit does.

This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo viability of vitrified and non-vitrified embryos derived from eCG and FSH treatments in rabbit does. Ninety-six nulliparous does were randomly subjected to consecutive superovulation treatments with eCG (20 IU/kg body weight intramuscularly (i.m.

Do parameters of seminal quality correlate with the results of on-farm inseminations in rabbits?

This study was conducted to determine if different sperm characteristics correlate with the in vivo fertility of rabbit sperm. A total of 2,765 heterospermic inseminations were performed in commercial rabbitries using 50-pooled samples of fresh semen. Sperm motility and morphological evaluations were performed on each of the heterospermic pooled samples to asses the seminal quality, and the percentage of kindling rate (76.

Study of fertilising capacity of spermatozoa after heterospermic insemination in rabbit using DNA markers.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the fertilising capacity of males belonging to a rabbit line selected for growth rate using heterospermic insemination and genetic markers. Semen from five males was used to make pools of three of them, and to perform homospermic insemination. Insemination was carried out in receptive multiparous lactating does with 6 million spermatozoa per insemination dose.