Cloning of breeding buffalo bulls in India: Initiatives & challenges

Abstract

The term animal cloning refers to an asexual mean of reproduction to produce genetically identical copies of any animal without the use of sperm. In India, the cloning of buffalo is well established and clones of the Murrah, the best dairy breed of buffalo, have been produced. The most acclaimed example is the restoration of progeny-tested breeding bull by isolating somatic cells from frozen doses of semen, which were stored for more than a decade in the semen bank. Buffalo bull cloning is considered the best available option to reproduce declared proven bulls and their semen would contribute to accomplishing the demand of ever-growing frozen semen, which is the prime requirement of conventional breeding. This article highlights the importance of buffalo bull cloning and its current status in India.

Keywords: Animal cloning; buffalo; bull; cloned embryo; semen.

Figure

Schematic presentation of how the buffalo bull cloning can be included in the buffalo breeding programme along with the classical breeding. Conventionally, the bull is nominated for breeding after rigorous and exhaustive progeny testing studies, which takes 8-10 years to declare the bull is proven, after the nomination, semen doses of the proven bull are used to inseminate females to produce future elite calves (A). If such proven bull (s) died or culled and have a very few doses of semen, then farmers and breeders could not have a constant supply of proven semen for breeding. Through animal cloning, it is possible to restore the genotype of declared proven bulls and the semen of such restored bulls can mitigate the demand of proven semen for classical breeding (B). This way, farmers and breeders can speed up the genetic gain. Also, multiple locations or herds can be targeted by cloned copies of one bull to disseminate best genetic at large scale.