CRYOBIRDS

Conservation of genetic variability in domestic animal is a challenge for the sustainable production of human food resources, for land management and more widely for the preservation and maintenance of biodiversity. This challenge is very important in poultry production that has experienced massive change and growth over the last past 50 years and where genetic diversity has been severely reduced. Consequently, the development of new tools for the conservation of genetic diversity and the maintenance of genetic variability in commercial lines and in endangered breeds is very important The present project proposes to develop a large panel of complementary biotechnologies of reproduction that will be used for the management of genetic diversity and will contribute to improve the adaptation of domestic avian resources to the future challenge of environmental changes and market evolution. The first step will therefore be to develop and improve the actual biotechnologies of germ cells storage that do exist in birds. We propose in task 1 to improve the methods of semen cryopreservation, and the methods of use of cryopreserved blastodermal cells and primordial germ cells (PGC) to obtain progeny having the genome of the donor. In task 2 we will study new alternatives methods that are original in birds, implicate a rupture with previous results, but that have enough background to be reasonably successful at least. These methods will include vitrification of the different cell types studied, reprogramming of blastodermal germcells in PGC and transfer after cryopreservation of gonadal tissues. The quality of the methods developed in task 1 and 2 will be measured using the advances proposed in task 3. This task will develop measurements of cell functionality after storage and transfer including DNA integrity, expression of gene markers, of other physiological cellular functions and specific chimerism markers. Finally, task 4 will use the advances of the three first tasks and evaluate their possibility of use for genetic storage of diversity in endangered breeds. In this task, there will also be the creation of the Hungarian avian germcells cryobank and the increasing in the collections of the French cryobank with new breeds and also biological material other than semen. This project will share new advances in reproductive biotechnologies and will initiate the creation of an international network of avian germcells cryobanks.