Expression analysis of BAX and GHR genes between parthenogenetic and IVF embryos in caprine

Abstract

The present study was carried out to compare the expression of proapoptotic (BAX) and growth hormone receptor genes (GHR) between diploid parthenogenetic and IVF (<i>in vitro</i> fertilization) derived preimplantation embryos in caprine. For the study, a group of oocytes were fertilized with freshly collected goat semen for production of IVF derived embryos. While another group of oocytes were activated using 7% ethanol in mSOF (modified synthetic oviductal fluid) for 5 min, followed by 4 h incubation with 2 mM 6-DMAP (6-dimethyl amino purine) in mSOF for production of diploid parthenogenetic embryos. After treatment, the oocytes were further cultured in mSOF medium for embryo development. Total RNA was isolated from morula stage diploid parthenogenetic and IVF embryos and cDNA was synthesized. The relative expression of BAX and GHR genes was analysed using real time PCR. The relative expression of BAX gene showed 18.12-fold up regulation (P˂0.05), whereas GHR gene showed 0.15-fold down regulation (P˂0.05) in diploid parthenogenetic as compared to IVF derived embryos. The present study suggests marked variation in expression of proapoptotic as well as growth related genes in parthenogenetic embryos, which might be the reason for their improper development.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"> </b>