This study was undertaken to compare the efficiency of fresh and frozen-thawed buck semen on in vitro fertilization (IVF) of goat oocytes. Cumulus oocytes complexes (COCs) were collected by aspiration of 2-6 mm diameter follicles, which were obtained from slaughterhouse. Upon grading, only normal quality COCs were maturated in TCM-199 for 48 hours. The percentage of COCs reached to the M-II stage was 61.41 ± 1.97%. The matured COCs were fertilized for 5 hours in Brackett and Oliphant media using fresh and frozen thawed semen separately. After fertilization the oocytes were cultured in TCM-199 for 48 hours to observe the cleavage rate. The maturation, fertilization and culture were performed in an incubator at 38.5 ˚C with 5% CO2 in humidified air. After fertilization cleavage rates were observed to check the fitness of zygotes to be morula and blastocyst. It was observed that the rates of normal fertilization (2 PN formations) for fresh and frozen semen were 36.02 ± 2.79 and 34.73 ± 2.58%, respectively and the cleavage rates were 25.19 ± 2.5 and 21.01 ± 2.8%, respectively. No significant differences (P>0.05) was observed between fresh and frozen semen in the efficiency of in vitro fertilization and subsequent development of goat embryos. It can be concluded that, both fresh and frozen semen can be used for IVF and subsequent development of goat embryos. Manuscript profile

The aim of this study was to determine the quality of cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs) and the effects of bovine serum albumin (BSA) supplementation on in vitro maturation and fertilization rate of buffalo oocytes. COCs were collected from slaughterhouse buffalo ovaries by aspiration method. Only normal grades COCs were matured for 48 hours in TCM-199 media. Two groups were created: one for the maturation medium supplemented with 5% of BSA, the other without supplementation (control). Matured oocyte fertilized with capacitated frozen-thawed semen in Brackett and Oliphant (BO) medium for 5 hours, in an incubator at 38.5 °C with 5% CO2 underhumidified air. A significantly higher number of normal quality COCs per ovary (P<0.05) were obtained from ovaries devoid of corpus luteum (CL) compared to ovaries having CL (1.84 vs. 0.81) respectively. The percentage of oocytes reaching Metaphase-II (M-II) stages was 58.07±2.08 and 68.10±0.75% for control and 5% level of BSA respectively. The fertility level was assessed by pronuclei formation: the normal fertilization rate (2PN) obtained was 19.63±3.11 and 29.52±1.98% for control and BSA supplementation respectively. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed in maturation (M-II) and fertilization (2PN) rate of buffalo oocyte by adding 5% level of BSA supplementation in culture media. Thus, data gathered in this study showed that 5% BSA supplementation in both maturation and fertilization media can be used for enhance the maturation and fertilization rate of buffalo oocytes, as well as to improve the grade of collected buffalo COCs. Manuscript profile