School of Molecular Biosciences, Center for Reproductive Biology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA; email:
Annu Rev Anim Biosci. 2019 Feb 15;7:385-401. doi: 10.1146/annurev-animal-020518-115239.
The demand for food will increase to an unprecedented level over the next 30 years owing to human population expansion, thus necessitating an evolution that improves the efficiency of livestock production. Genetic gain to improve production traits of domestic animal populations is most effectively achieved via selective use of gametes from animals deemed to be elite, and this principle has been the basis of selective breeding strategies employed by humans for thousands of years. In modern-day animal agriculture, artificial insemination (AI) has been the staple of selective breeding programs, but it has inherent limitations for applications in beef cattle and pig production systems. In this review, we discuss the potential and current state of development for a concept termed Surrogate Sires as a next-generation breeding tool in livestock production. The scheme capitalizes on the capacity of spermatogonial stem cells to regenerate sperm production after isolation from donor testicular tissue and transfer into the testes of a recipient male that lacks endogenous germline, thereby allowing the surrogate male to produce offspring with the donor haplotype via natural mating. This concept provides an effective selective breeding tool to achieve genetic gain that is conducive for livestock production systems in which AI is difficult to implement.
在未来 30 年内，由于人口扩张，对食物的需求将增长到前所未有的水平，因此需要进行一场能够提高畜牧业生产效率的变革。通过选择性地使用被认为是精英的动物的配子来提高家畜种群的生产性状的遗传增益，是最有效的，这一原则是人类几千年来采用选择性育种策略的基础。在现代动物农业中，人工授精（AI）一直是选择性育种计划的基础，但它在应用于肉牛和猪生产系统方面存在固有局限性。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了一个概念的潜力和当前发展状况，该概念被称为代孕种公牛，作为家畜生产中的下一代育种工具。该方案利用精原干细胞的能力，在从供体睾丸组织中分离出来并转移到缺乏内源性生殖系的受体雄性的睾丸中后，再生精子产生，从而使代孕雄性能够通过自然交配，用供体单倍型产生后代。这一概念为遗传增益提供了一个有效的选择性育种工具，有利于那些难以实施 AI 的畜牧业生产系统。
