• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.184-193
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• 2007

In mammalian ovary, steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein mediates the true rate-limiting step of transport of cholesterol from outer to inner mitochondrial membrane. Appropriate expression of StAR gene represents an indispensable component of steroidogenesis and its regulation has been found to be species specific. However, limited information is available regarding StAR gene expression during estrous cycle in buffalo ovary. In the present study, expression, localization and hormonal regulation of StAR mRNA were analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR in buffalo ovary and partial cDNA was cloned. Total RNA was isolated from whole follicles of different sizes, granulosa cells from different size follicles and postovulatory structures like corpus luteum and Corpus albicans. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses showed StAR mRNA expression in the postovulatory structure, corpus luteum. No StAR mRNA was detected in total RNA isolated from whole follicles of different size including the preovulatory follicle (>9 mm in diameter). However, granulosa cells isolated from preovulatory follicles showed the moderate expression of StAR mRNA. To assess the hormonal regulation of StAR mRNA, primary culture of buffalo granulosa cells were treated with FSH (100 ng/ml) alone or along with IGF-I (100 ng/ml) for 12 to 18 h. The abundance of StAR mRNA increased in cells treated with FSH alone or FSH with IGF-I. However, effect of FSH with IGF-I on mRNA expression was found highly significant (p<0.01). In conclusion, differential expression of StAR messages was observed during estrous cycle in buffalo ovary. Also, there was a synergistic action of IGF-I on FSH stimulation of StAR gene.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1496-1500
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• 2004

In the mammalian ovary the follicular fluid contains proteins and peptides which play an important role in growth, development and maturation of oocytes. The gonadotropins and some other factors work synergistically and regulate ovarian functions. In the present study the effect of follicular fluid proteins (FFP) and gonadotropins on progesterone secretion by granulosa cells (GC) from buffalo ovary, was investigated during culture. The follicular fluid was collected from small (<5 mm), and medium (5-8 mm) follicles obtained from buffalo ovaries. The follicular fluid from medium follicles was fractionated with ammonium sulphate at 80% saturation. The precipitated protein fraction was further resolved in to minor (peaks I, III) and major (peak II) proteins using gel filtration (Sephadex G-200). The FFP from small follicles and major FFP (peak II) at a dose of 200 $\mu$g/well, significantly stimulated progesterone secretion by pooled GC (3${\times}10^{5}$ cells/2 ml medium/well). The minor FFP did not show any stimulatory effect. There was a significant increase in progesterone secretion by pooled GC in presence of FFP and LH (10 ng/well), however, FSH (20 ng/well) with FFP exhibited an inhibitory effect. The major FFP and gonadotropins were also studied for their effect on progesterone production by GC isolated from medium and large size follicles. The GC from medium follicles were more responsive to FSH and FFP whereas GC from large follicles exhibited enhanced progesterone secretion with LH and FFP. These results indicated that FFP have their own stimulatory effect and also act synergistically with gonadotropins. The significantly different response shown by GC, for steroid hormone secretion, is based on their stage of growth and differentiation. The purification and characterization of such steroidogenic proteins may help in elucidating their role in growth and differentiation of granulosa cells.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.491-497
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• 1998

Four types of serum supplements viz. estrus cow serum (ECS), estrus buffalo serum (EBS), pro-estrus buffalo serum (PrBS) and post-estrus buffalo serum (PtBS), added to TCM-199, were evaluated for in vitro maturation and fertilization of buffalo follicular oocytes. The oocytes were recovered from buffalo ovaries after slaughter, using either aspiration or scoring (multiple incisions) method. The recovered oocytes were categorized as A, B and C based on their cumulus investment and ooplasm homogeneity and cultured in four media. The in vitro matured oocytes were inseminated with $1{\times}10^6$ spermatozoa washed in 2.9% sodium citrate solution. The scoring method yielded greater number of morphologically good oocytes than the aspiration method (3.85 vs 1.76 per ovary, p < 0.01). The maturation rates of three categories of oocytes did not differ from one another. The maturation rates of 80.00, 82.08, 78.77 and 66.23%, while the fertilization rates of 54.54, 55.38, 52.80 and 36.76% were recorded for media containing ECS, EBS, PrBS, and PtBS, respectively. The medium containing PtBS gave lower maturation, as well as fertilization, rates than the other three media (p < 0.05). Thus, the scoring method was better than the aspiration method for the recovery of follicular oocytes. The oocytes categorized A, B and C had similar maturation capabilities. The TCM-199 containing buffalo/cow serum collected at pro-estrus or estrus appeared better for in vitro maturation and fertilization of buffalo follicular oocytes than that containing serum collected at post estrus.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.1059-1062
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• 2000

The objective of the investigation was to study the effect of intramuscular $PGF_2\;{\alpha}$ and GnRH on estrus behavior and ovarian response in Murrah buffalo heifers. Twelve Murrah buffalo heifers at 32 months of age that had not exhibited behavioral estrus symptom were included in the experiment. Out of 12,4 heifers were in follicular phase (plasma estradiol $57.05{\pm}12.52pg/ml$), another 4 heifers were in luteal phase (Plasma progesterone $2.24{\pm}0.25ng/ml$) while the ovaries of remaining four heifers were inactive (estradiol $23.70{\pm}1.66pg/ml$and progesterone $0.32{\pm}0.06ng/ml$). $PGF_2\;{\alpha}$ (25 mg, Lutalyse, im) and GnRH (200 ug, Fertagyl, iv) was administered to each heifer at interval of 10 days. The plasma progesterone concentration decreased within 48 hrs after $PGF_2\;{\alpha}$ injection and followed thereafter with follicular growth, estrus and ovulation. GnRH administration induced follicular growth, elevation of plasma estradiol concentration with subsequent exhibition of behavioral estrus in 2 out of 4 heifers having inactive ovary. The observation reveals that Murrah buffalo heifers at 32 months of age have developed receptors for $PGF_2\;{\alpha}$ and GnRH on ovarian and pituitary tissue respectively and response the single injection of $PGF_2\;{\alpha}$ and GnRH similar to the mature cycling animals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.1675-1677
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• 2001

The effect of the presence or absence of corpus luteum in the ovaries of slaughtered buffaloes was studied for the oocytes recovery and their subsequent maturation and fertilization in vitro. On an average, 0.41 and 0.67 oocytes per ovary were recovered from ovaries with and without corpus luteum, respectively. Immature oocytes were matured in TCM-199 medium. Significant difference was observed in maturation rate between good (74%) and fair (37%) oocytes. However, there was no significant difference in cleavage rate between the two types. The results of this study show that although the presence of corpus luteum in the ovary at the time of recovery significantly affected availability of total oocytes and in-vitro maturation, but fertilization and cleavage remained unaffected under in vitro conditions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.1071-1086
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• 2003

Reproductive biotechnologies continue to be developed for genetic improvement of both river and swamp buffalo. Although artificial insemination using frozen semen emerged some decades back, there are still considerable limitations. The major problem appears to be the lack of efficient methods for estrus detection and timely insemination. Controlled breeding experiments in the buffalo had been limited and similar to those applied in cattle. Studies on multiple ovulation and embryo transfer are essentially a replica of those in cattle, however with inherent problems such as lower number of primordial follicles on the buffalo ovary, poor fertility and seasonality of reproduction, lower population of antral follicles at all stages of the estrous cycle, poor endocrine status and a high incidence of deep atresia in ovarian follicles, the response in terms of transferable embryo recovery has remained low with 0.51 to 3.0 per donor and pregnancy rates between 15 to 30%. In vitro production of buffalo embryos is a valid alternative to recovery of embryos by superovulation. This aspect received considerable attention during the past decade, however the proportion of embryos that develops to the blastocyst stage is still around 25-30% and hence the in vitro culture procedures need substantial improvement. Embryo cryopreservation procedures for direct transfer post thaw need to be developed for bubaline embryos. Nuclear transfer and embryo cloning is a technique that has received attention in various species during recent years and can be of immense value in buffaloes as they have a low rate of embryo recoveries by both in vitro and in vivo procedures. Gender pre-selection, genome analysis, gene mapping and gene transfer are a few of the techniques that have been studied to a limited extent during recent years and are likely to be included in future studies on buffaloes. Very recently, reproductive biotechnologies have been applied to feral buffaloes as well, but the results obtained so far are modest. When fully exploited they can play an important role in the preservation of endangered species.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.919-923
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• 2004

Ultrasonographic study was undertaken to establish the echogenecity and size of reproductive organs of 18 cycling buffaloes of different parities and compared with the sizes measured by palpation per rectum at estrus (day 0), met estrus (day 2), mid diestrus (day 10) and late diestrus (day 16). The overall mean size of cervix, uterine body, right horn, left horn, right ovary and left ovary measured by palpation per rectum were 2.70$\pm$0.43, 2.36$\pm$0.36, 2.17$\pm$0.37, 2.12$\pm$0.38, 2.63$\pm$0.41 and 2.72$\pm$0.37 cm, respectively. The corresponding ultrasonographic observations were 2.10$\pm$0.40, 1.85$\pm$0.30, 1.73$\pm$0.36, 1.64$\pm$0.37, 2.16$\pm$0.36 and 2.29$\pm$0.38 cm respectively. Variations in the size of genitalia due to stages of estrous cycle were non-significant. The size of genitalia measured by palpation per rectum was significantly higher (p<0.05) than by ultrasonography. However, there was linear positive correlation (r=+0.87) in the measurements by the two techniques. The ultrasonographic characteristics of tubular genitalia revealed different echogenic gray shades around the nonechogenic (black) central area of lumen depending upon the stage of cycle. The ovarian stroma appeared as hyperechoic (white) area with nonechogenic (black) follicle. The corpus luteum (CL) exhibited different echogenic texture viz. grayish black, grayish granular and grayish white at met estrus, mid diestrus and late diestrus, respectively. Therefore, ltrasonography can be effectively employed to record the exact size and echotexture of the buffalo genitalia during different stages of estrous cycle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1729-1737
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• 2018

Objective: The aim of the current study is to investigate the relationship between prohibitin (PHB), capping actin protein of muscle Z-line beta subunit (CAPZB), and tektin-2 (TEKT2) and sperm motility in Murrah buffalo. Methods: We collected the high-motility and low-motility semen samples, testis, ovary, muscle, kidney, liver, brain and pituitary from Murrah buffalo, and analysed the expression of PHB, CAPZB, and TEKT2 in mRNA (message RNA) and protein level. Results: Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) result showed that the expression of PHB was higher and CAPZB, TEKT2 were specifically expressed in testis as compared to the other 6 tissues, and that in testis, the expression of TEKT2 was higher than that of CAPZB and PHB. Immunohistochemistry test revealed that all three genes were located on the convoluted seminiferous tubule and enriched in spermatogenic cells. Both qRT-PCR and Western Blot results showed that the expression levels of PHB, CAPZB, and TEKT2 were significantly lower in the low-motility semen group compared to the high-motility semen group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The expression levels of PHB, CAPZB, and TEKT2 in Murrah buffalo sperm have a high positive correlation with sperm motility. And the three genes may be potential molecular markers for the decline of buffalo sperm motility.