Molekularna metoda oznaczania plci zarodkow bydlecych wyhodowanych in vitro

The aim of the studies was to determine the sex of cattle embryos by identifying Y-chromosome specific DNA sequence using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The sex of embryos fertilized in vitro and produced from the stage 2b up to hatched blastocyst was determined. Also the comparison of whole embryos and biopsed parts of them was performed. A total of 336 embryos was used. The sex of the embryos was determined with similar accurancy using a few biopsed cells as the whole embryo. The number of male and female embryos differed with the stage of development. In the stage of expanding blastocysts the ratio of male to female blastocysts was from 39.6% to 60.4% ( p s 0.5). In the group of hatched blastocysts the opposite situation was found, namely 62.5 % male and 37.5% female blastocysts (p s 0.01).