BIOPSY OF INDIAN ZEBU AND CROSSBRED CATTLE PREIMPLANTATION EMBRYOS AND SEXING BY POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique has been adopted to iden tify the sex of preimplantation Indian Zebu and crossbred cattle embry os rapidly. PCR was used to amplify Y chromosome specific repeat seque nces from bisected embryos. In the present study, four different prime r pairs were utilized for the sexing of each embryo. The first oligonu cleotide primer pair, the bovine satellite specific primer, recognizes sequences that are amplified both in males and females, while the oth er three bovine Y chromosome specific primer pairs amplified the Y chr omosome specific sequence in males only. The sex of each embryo was co nfirmed by using different Y chromosome specific primers. Sex determin ation by PCR was found to be accurate and rapid enough to allow transf er of embryos of known sex without the need for cryopreservation.