CONSERVATION OF ENDANGERED CURASSOWS THROUGH INTERSPECIFIC GERM CELL TRANSPLANTATION

Abstract

The Alagoas curassow (Pauxi mitu) is a pheasant-like bird from the Atlantic rain forest of the Northeastern Brazil that is considered extinct from the wild since 2004. In spite of the progress made in the last decades, in which total population increased from 3 individuals (1979) to nearly 170 (2015), its breeding program has struggled with serious problems regarding the founder population such as advanced age, prominent consanguinity, and high degree of hybridization with the razor-billed curassow (Pauxi tuberosa). This scenario emphasizes the importance of the reproductive biotechnologies for the genetic management of this species. Nevertheless, techniques that are well established in poultry (e.g. artificial insemination and semen cryopreservation) have limited applicability in cracids, and do not resolve issues as seminal quality in elder or infertile males. An alternative strategy to overcome some of these adversities is to preserve germplasm through intra or interspecific transplantation of germ cells. Recently, our research group demonstrated that transferring quail spermatogonia to prepubertal roosters led to complete restoration of the spermatogenesis, thus opening the perspective of using this tool in critical situations as in the Alagoas curassow case. Consequently, we aim to assess whether or not transferring spermatogonia from cracid species to recipient roosters will result colonization of the seminiferous tubules, and in case of donor-derived spermatogenesis, spermatozoa production. The data obtained here will serve as a starting point for the application of this approach in spreading genetic material of male Alagoas currasows considered old, subfertile or behaviorally inadequate. (AU)