Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, D-10315, Berlin, Germany.
Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195, Berlin, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2018 Jul 4;9(1):2589. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04959-2.
The northern white rhinoceros (NWR, Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is the most endangered mammal in the world with only two females surviving. Here we adapt existing assisted reproduction techniques (ART) to fertilize Southern White Rhinoceros (SWR) oocytes with NWR spermatozoa. We show that rhinoceros oocytes can be repeatedly recovered from live SWR females by transrectal ovum pick-up, matured, fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection and developed to the blastocyst stage in vitro. Next, we generate hybrid rhinoceros embryos in vitro using gametes of NWR and SWR. We also establish embryonic stem cell lines from the SWR blastocysts. Blastocysts are cryopreserved for later embryo transfer. Our results indicate that ART could be a viable strategy to rescue genes from the iconic, almost extinct, northern white rhinoceros and may also have broader impact if applied with similar success to other endangered large mammalian species.
北方白犀牛（NWR，Ceratotherium simum cottoni）是世界上最濒危的哺乳动物，仅剩两只雌性存活。在这里，我们采用现有的辅助生殖技术（ART），用北方白犀牛的精子使南方白犀牛（SWR）的卵母细胞受精。我们证明，通过直肠内卵母细胞采集术可以从活体 SWR 雌性犀牛中反复回收犀牛卵母细胞，使其成熟，通过胞质内精子注射受精，并在体外发育至囊胚阶段。接下来，我们使用 NWR 和 SWR 的配子在体外产生杂交犀牛胚胎。我们还从 SWR 囊胚中建立了胚胎干细胞系。囊胚被冷冻保存，以备以后进行胚胎移植。我们的研究结果表明，ART 可能是从标志性的、几乎灭绝的北方白犀牛中拯救基因的可行策略，如果在其他濒危大型哺乳动物物种中同样成功地应用，也可能产生更广泛的影响。
