TEMPORARY EXPOSURE OF OVINE EMBRYOS TO AN ADVANCED UTERINE ENVIRONMENT DOES NOT AFFECT FETAL WEIGHT BUT ALTERS FETAL MUSCLE DEVELOPMENT

Embryo transfer techniques may result in fetuses that are heavier at b irth and that have been described as highly muscled. The aim of this s tudy was to investigate myogenesis in lambs derived from embryo transf er. Embryos were transferred at Day 3 (estrus = Day 0) to a 3 days-adv anced uterine environment, maintained there for 3 days, recovered, and then returned to a synchronous (Day 6) uterus; these fetuses comprise d the asynchronous group. Control animals were created by synchronous embryo recovery and single transfer at Day 3. Asynchronous transfer di d not affect fetal weight or curved crown-rump length between 46 and 1 35 days of gestation. No differences were detected between groups at D ays 110-135 with respect to muscle mass or protein, RNA, and DNA conte nt. However, total muscle fiber number was significantly increased in plantaris muscles from the asynchronous groups at Day 110 and Day 125, suggestive of prolonged hyperplasia. In addition, the levels of Myf 5 protein and the secondary-to-primary fiber ratio were altered in plan taris muscle from the asynchronous group. The growth data are in contr ast to previously reported findings. The results show that fetal myoge nesis can be altered by very early events in embryogenesis and suggest that any inferences made solely on the basis of fetal or muscle weigh t may be fallacious.