COMPARISON OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF OOCYTES BETWEEN CATTLE AND BUFFALO

Abstract

Cattle and buffalo play a vital role in the livestock production sector in Bangladesh, but their production is problematic due to some reproductive difficulties. To address this issue, In Vitro Embryo Production (IVP) would be the appropriate option of animal production. Thus, in this study, the qualitative and quantitative features of the ovary and oocytes of these two species were compared in order to gain a full understanding of them and to pick the optimal oocytes for IVP. The ovaries were collected from the local slaughter houses, aspirated the follicular fluid, and classified the oocytes. The nuclear diameter of oocytes was measured to know the change occurred due to maturation. The ovary of cow and buffalo differed significantly (p<0.01) in weight (1.75 vs. 4.83 g), length (1.53 vs. 2.29 cm), width (0.89 vs. 1.57 cm), and depth (0.63 vs. 1.03 cm). Normal oocytes per ovary were 1.19 in cattle and 1.50 in Buffalo, while abnormal oocytes were 0.96 in cattle and 1.13 in Buffalo. Also, a significant difference (p<0.05) was observed between the oocytes’ nuclear diameter (cattle 85.64 ± 8.16 µm vs. buffalo 99.92±8.65 µm) and before & after maturation of oocytes within the same species. It may be concluded that, the buffalo ovary was more prominent in size and heavier in weight than the cattle ovary. Besides, any type of ovaries - irrespective of the ovary's position and CL status - can be a good source of potential oocytes.