Source, treatment and type of nuclear donor cells influences in vitro and in vivo development of embryos cloned by somatic cell nuclear transfer in camel (Camelus dromedarius)

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of source, treatment and type of nuclear donor cells on embryonic and fetal development of somatic cell nuclear-transfer reconstructs in dromedary camel. In experiment 1, actively growing, serum starved or confluent skin fibroblast cells were used as nuclear donors. In experiment 2, skin fibroblasts from 4 different animals while in experiment 3, skin fibroblasts and cumulus cells from the same animal were used as nuclear donors. In all the three experiments, mature oocytes collected by transvaginal ovum pick up were used as recipient cytoplasts. All the blastocysts obtained were transferred to synchronized recipients on Day 5-6 after ovulation. In experiment 1, pregnancies were achieved from the embryos reconstructed with all the groups of cells, however, only 1 full term calf was delivered from the embryos reconstructed with serum-starved cells. In experiment 2, significant differences were observed in embryo development and establishment of pregnancies among the donor cell lines from different animals. Five cloned calves were delivered from the embryos reconstructed with skin fibroblast cells of 3 animals, while the sole pregnancy from fourth animal aborted on Day 224 of gestation. Three full term calves were delivered from pregnancies achieved by the embryos reconstructed with cumulus cells in experiment 3, while a single pregnancy achieved from skin fibroblast cells was lost on Day 296 of gestation. In conclusion, we observed that cell donor, cell type and their treatment affect the outcome of cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer in camels.