Meiotic recombination in normal and clone bulls and their offspring

Homologous chromosome pairing and recombination are essential components of meiosis and sexual reproduction. The reshuffling of genetic material through breakage and reunion of chromatids ensure proper segregation of homologous chromosomes in reduction division and genetic diversity in the progeny. The advent of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) as a reproductive biotechnology for use in livestock industry has made it easy to bypass these vital steps. However, few studies have been carried out on the impact of SCNT on the reproductive characteristics of cloned animals and, none to date, on the meiotic processes in animals, which were created by circumventing meiosis. In an attempt to assess the impact of cloning by SCNT on the meiotic processes, we undertook an immunocytological comparison of recombination in normal and clone bulls using antibodies raised against the synaptonemal complex protein 3 (SCP3) to label the lateral elements and the mismatch repair protein 1 (MLH1) foci on bivalents as indicators of recombination events. Our studies involving five normal bulls of proven fertility, two SCNT-derived bulls, and four mature offspring of SCNT bulls showed that the mean number of crossing over per spermatocyte for normal bulls (42 +/- 4 SD; ranging from 33 to 56), was not significantly different from that of SCNT-derived bulls (43 +/- 5 SD; ranging from 35 to 56), and the offspring of SCNT-derived bulls (43 +/- 5 SD; ranging from 37 to 58). It would appear that circumventing meiosis to produce these animals does not influence the meiotic processes revealed by MLH1 foci detected in spermatocytes.