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Review
. 2018 Oct 11;18(2):121-127.
doi: 10.1002/rmb2.12244. eCollection 2019 Apr.

Assisted reproductive technologies in Microtus genus

Konosuke Okada  1 , Atsuko Kageyama  1
Affiliations
Review

Assisted reproductive technologies in Microtus genus

Konosuke Okada et al. Reprod Med Biol. .

Abstract

Background: Microtus genus is one of the experimental animals showing unique characteristics, and some species have been used as various research models. In order to advance the utilization of Microtus genus, the development of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) is a key point. This review introduces recent progress in the development of ARTs for Microtus genus, especially Microtus montebelli (Japanese field vole).

Methods: Based on previous and our publications, current status of the development of ARTs was summarized.

Results: In M. montebelli, ARTs, such as superovulation, in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, embryo transfer, sperm cryopreservation, and nonsurgical artificial insemination, have considerably been established by using the procedures which were originally devised for mice and partly modified. However, when the methods for M. montebelli were applied to Microtus arvalis and Microtus rossiaemeridionalis, all protocols of ARTs except for sperm cryopreservation were technologically invalid.

Conclusion: Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are considerably established in M. montebelli, and this fact allows this species to be potentially useful as a model animal. However, since ART protocols of M. montebelli are mostly invalid for other species of the Microtus genus, it is necessary to improve them specifically for each of other species.

Keywords: Microtus montebelli; assisted reproductive technology; gamete; herbivorous rodent; vole.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The author declares no conflict of interest. Human studies: This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by the author. An animal use ethics statement: The designed animal experimental protocol was approved by the Animal Experimental Committee of Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University. All procedures were complied with guideline for Proper Conduct of Animal Experimental by Science Council of Japan. All animals were humanely treated throughout the course of experiments, and maximum care was taken to minimize pain of experimental animals.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The morphology and nuclear status of Microtus oocytes. A, The matured oocytes from i) Sus scrofa domesticus, ii) Mus musculus (B6D2F1), iii) Microtus arvalis, iv) Microtus montebelli, and v) Microtus rossiaemeridionalis are shown. B‐E, Nuclear status (the metaphase II [MII] stage) of matured oocytes is shown B,C; M. montebelli, D,E; M. musculus). The bar shows 100 µm. The arrowheads indicate the meiotic spindle at MII stage
Figure 2
Figure 2
The morphology of sperm head and offspring derived from nonsurgical artificial insemination (AI) (transcervical insemination) in Microtus montebelli. A,B show the sperm head of B6D2F1 and M. montebelli, respectively. C,B show the offspring derived from fresh and freeze‐thawing (FT) sperm, respectively. The bars in A,B show 10 µm. Photograph in this figure were reused in this paper with the permission of Japanese Journal of Embryo Transfer33
Figure 3
Figure 3
Total motility A, and viability B, of Microtus sperm before and after freeze‐thaw. The motility was assessed with five categories (+++, ++, +, ±, −) and calculated four categories (+++, ++, +, ±) as the total motility. *Compared with the fresh, there was significance in each species (P < 0.05). These figures were re‐used in this paper with the permission of Japanese Journal of Embryo Transfer33
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