Cytogenetic analysis of 34 early stage bovine embryos from superovulated Hereford donors

Abstract

One hundred and thirty-four bovine embryos were collected from 17 superovulated Hereford cows and processed for metaphase chromosome spreads. Mitotic figures were obtained from 54 embryos (40%), but only 34 embryos (25%) provided analyzable chromosome spreads. Thirty embryos were 2n = 60, one was a possible 2n/4n mosaic and three were hypodiploid. The hypodiploid cases and the 2n/4n mosaic could be due to technical artifacts.Key words: embryo, cattle, chromosomes, superovulated.