Follicular monitoring, adaptation technique of embryo collection and assessments of morphological and morphometric embryos in jennies Pêga

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais The donkeys were used for different functions until the introduction of motors, while they had declined. Through the years, they had managed to recover some breeds, like the Pega, which is preferably by brazilian breeders to produce interbreed strong and gait. Thus, in order to create a research line in jenny’s embryology, the objective was to adapt non-surgical embryo collection technique in Pêga breed, study the follicular dynamics, morphology and diameter of jenny’s embryos harvested eight days after ovulation. The study of follicular dynamics showed that the average diameter of the preovulatory follicle was 37.4±4mm. Significant differences (P>0.05) were observed between diameters in the six days leading up to ovulation. The non-surgical technique proved effective and, a total of 35 uterine flushings were obtained from 21 embryos (two morula, eight blastocysts and eleven expanded blastocysts), of which 19 embryos were classified as grade I and two as grade II. The average diameter for the fresh embryos was 316.7±81.7μm. Treatment with glycerol caused an average reduction of 18.3% of the diameter, fixation in glutaraldehyde caused a mean reduction of 41.3% of the diameter for the control group and 25.3% of the diameter of the embryo after passage through the glycerol for the treatment group. After washing in phosphate buffer there was an average increase of 33.9% for the two groups. Statistical analysis for the variation in diameter showed no difference (P>0.05) between the initial diameter and diameter obtained during the processing steps. In light (LM) and transmission electron (TEM) microscopy was not observed to preserve the structure of the embryo due to inadequate penetration of the resin inside it. Electron microscopy showed that thickness of the capsule influence the rate of penetration of the resin, concluding that the preparation techniques of jenny’s embryos handle for TEM should be better studied. Os jumentos foram utilizados para diferentes funções até o momento da introdução de motores (carros, caminhões, entre outros), momento no qual deixaram de ser usados. Com os anos, algumas raças conseguiram se recuperar, como a Pêga, que é de preferência de criadores brasileiros por gerar híbridos fortes e de andamento marchado. Assim, com o propósito de criar uma linha de pesquisa em embriologia de asininos, o objetivo deste trabalho foi adaptar a técnica não-cirúrgica de coleta de embriões para jumentas da raça Pêga, acompanhar o crescimento folicular durante o estro até a ovulação, avaliar o estádio embrionário, morfologia e diâmetro dos embriões coletados oito dias após a ovulação. O acompanhamento da dinâmica folicular mostrou que a média para o diâmetro do folículo pré-ovulatório foi de 37,4 ± 4mm. Houve diferença (p