Centre for Conservation Ecology & Genomics, Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia.
University of Newcastle, Conservation Biology Research Group, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
Reprod Fertil Dev. 2022 Mar;34(5):i-ix. doi: 10.1071/RDv34n5_FO.
Amphibians and reptiles are highly threatened vertebrate taxa with large numbers of species threatened with extinction. With so many species at risk, conservation requires the efficient and cost-effective application of all the tools available so that as many species as possible are assisted. Biobanking of genetic material in genetic resource banks (GRBs) in combination with assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to retrieve live animals from stored materials are two powerful, complementary tools in the conservation toolbox for arresting and reversing biodiversity decline for both amphibians and reptiles. However, the degree of development of the ARTs and cryopreservation technologies differ markedly between these two groups. These differences are explained in part by different perceptions of the taxa, but also to differing reproductive anatomy and biology between the amphibians and reptiles. Artificial fertilisation with cryopreserved sperm is becoming a more widely developed and utilised technology for amphibians. However, in contrast, artificial insemination with production of live progeny has been reported in few reptiles, and while sperm have been successfully cryopreserved, there are still no reports of the production of live offspring generated from cryopreserved sperm. In both amphibians and reptiles, a focus on sperm cryopreservation and artificial fertilisation or artificial insemination has been at the expense of the development and application of more advanced technologies such as cryopreservation of the female germline and embryonic genome, or the use of sophisticated stem cell/primordial germ cell cryopreservation and transplantation approaches. This review accompanies the publication of ten papers on amphibians and twelve papers on reptiles reporting advances in ARTs and biobanking for the herpetological taxa.
两栖动物和爬行动物是受到高度威胁的脊椎动物类群，大量物种面临灭绝的威胁。由于有如此多的物种面临风险，保护需要高效且具有成本效益地应用所有现有的工具，以尽可能地帮助更多的物种。遗传资源库（GRB）中的遗传物质生物库与辅助生殖技术（ART）相结合，从储存材料中检索活体动物，是两栖动物和爬行动物保护工具箱中两种强大且互补的工具，可以阻止和扭转生物多样性的下降。然而，这两种工具在技术发展程度上存在明显差异。这些差异部分归因于对这些类群的不同看法，但也与两栖动物和爬行动物之间不同的生殖解剖结构和生物学有关。冷冻精子的人工受精在两栖动物中越来越成为一种广泛发展和应用的技术。相比之下，在少数爬行动物中报告了用冷冻精子产生活体后代的人工授精，尽管精子已经成功冷冻，但仍没有报告从冷冻精子产生活体后代的情况。在两栖动物和爬行动物中，对精子冷冻保存和人工受精或人工授精的关注已经影响了更先进技术的发展和应用，例如雌性生殖系和胚胎基因组的冷冻保存，或使用复杂的干细胞/原始生殖细胞冷冻保存和移植方法。本文在发表十篇关于两栖动物和十二篇关于爬行动物的关于辅助生殖技术和生物库的论文的同时，报道了这些爬行动物的研究进展。
