Vitrification of Astyanax altiparanae (Garutti & Britski, 2000) embryos

Abstract

The development of gamete cryopreservation techniques and fish embryos is of great value to the formation of gene banks, serving as a basis for restocking studies, intensive fish farming, breeding programs and aid the preservation of species at risk of extinction . Current methods of cryopreservation of neotropical fish embryos, are still ineffective since run into problems related to sensitivity to cold, to cryoprotectants and the low permeability of the membranes, which can lead to loss of functional and structural integrity of the embryos, after application the cooling process, freezing and thawing. A major component of the plasma membrane, the fatty acids, plays a key role both in gametogenesis process, as in the structural formation of embryos and are fundamental in controlling the permeability of cell membranes. Thus, diets with high levels of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) to breeding, can provide a change in the composition of the plasma membrane of the gametes and the embryo, and may enable a change in the permeability of the sperm and embryonic tissues. Thus, contextualizing the methodological problem of teleost embryo cryopreservation process, and the importance of fatty acids, as changeable components and may assist in the success of these processes, this project aims to the incorporation of fatty acids in the membranes of embryos through incorporation oil with high concentrations of HUFA in the feed parental aimed at increasing the permeability to cryoprotectant, and this can increase the resistance to cryopreservation protocols, and the development of a process vitrifying Astyanax altiparanae embryos important fish species in the Brazilian aquaculture setting. (AU)