Improved hatching for in vitro quail embryo culture using surrogate eggshell and artificial vessel

The establishment of avian embryonic culture is important both for the analysis of the developmental process and the establishment of transgenic chickens that produce useful biological materials in eggs. However, the hatchability of cultured embryos has been ~50%. We identified that the low rate of hatchability of cultured embryos was caused by limited oxygen and calcium availability. In quail embryo culture using chicken eggshell as a culture vessel, viability in the middle stage of culture was improved and 30% of embryos were hatched by oxygen enrichment. Furthermore, hatchability increased to 80% by supplementation with calcium lactate in addition to oxygen aeration. In the present study, a fully artificial vessel for quail embryo culture was designed using a gas-permeable Teflon membrane. By the addition of fine eggshell powder and calcium lactate, quail embryos grew and developed normally, and 43% of embryos hatched. Although the hatchability was lower than that of cultures using a surrogate eggshell, we achieved in hatching an avian embryo using a fully artificial vessel.