Time Exposure Period of Bovine Oocytes to Sperm in Relation to Embryo Development Rate and Quality

The objective of the study was to determine the effect of different bovine gamete coincubation times on fertilization and embryo development performance. In vitro matured COCs were co-incubated with sperm at a concentration of 1.5 × 10(6) spermatozoa/ml in TALP medium for 3 hours (T 3, n = 362), 6 hours (T 6, n = 358), or 18 hours (T 18, n = 350). At the end of the coincubation period COCs from times 3 and 6 groups were post-incubated in a new well of fertilization medium without sperm for additional 15 and 12 h, respectively. Cumulus Oocyte Complexes from the T 18 were co-incubated with the sperm suspension for 18 hours. Presumptive zygotes were cultured for 9 days and embryo development was evaluated on days 2, 8, and 9. Thirty blastocysts from each group were stained and total number of nuclei was recorded. The mean (± SEM) percentages of zygotes to develop into ≥2 cell stage were 71.9 ± 5.0; 72.5 ± 5.3 and 81.2 ± 6.1 % for T 3, 6, and 18, respectively, on day 2 and they did not differ (P = .3) among groups. The mean percentage of blastocysts developed on day 8 (25.6 ± 2.8; 24.2 ± 3.3; 28.4 ± 4.2 % for T 3, 6, and 18, resp.) did not differ (P = .4) among groups. The total number of embryonic nuclei was greater (P < .05) for the blastocysts produced from the shortest co-incubation time (T 3).