Abstract
The aim of the present study was to report a novel developmental abnormality in a cloned dog. A fibroblast cell line was established from an 8-year-old male German shepherd dog. In vivo matured oocytes were retrieved from a large breed dog, and the nucleus was removed from each oocyte. A donor cell was injected into an enucleated oocyte, and the oocyte-cell couplet was fused electrically. After chemical activation, the resulting embryos were transferred into a naturally estrus-synchronized recipient dog, and two cloned pups were delivered by Cesarean section 60 days later. One cloned pup (Clone 1) was healthy, but the other (Clone 2) had a birth weight of only 320 g and cleft palate, failure of preputial closure at the ventral distal part, and persistent penile frenulum. Clone 2 was raised by stomach feeding until Day 40 after birth, where palatoplasty was performed. The abnormalities in external genitalia in Clone 2 resulted in persistent penile extrusion that was surgically corrected. This complex developmental abnormality has not been reported in dogs previously.
Highlights
Concurrent occurrence of congenital defects consisting of both cleft palate and abnormal external genitalia in dogs is rarely reported
Cleft palate/lip is one of the most common craniofacial congenital defects in humans [1] and dogs [2,3]. It may result from incomplete fusion of the primary palate and secondary palate during embryogenesis caused by genetic factors as well as environmental factors such as poor nutrition, drugs and teratogens, including virus [1,4]
Until now, developmental anomalies have been seldom reported in cloned dogs
Summary
Background Concurrent occurrence of congenital defects consisting of both cleft palate and abnormal external genitalia in dogs is rarely reported. Cleft palate/lip is one of the most common craniofacial congenital defects in humans (about 1/1000 infants) [1] and dogs [2,3]. Hypospadia is the most common congenital penile anomalies in humans [5] and dogs [6]. Until now, developmental anomalies have been seldom reported in cloned dogs.
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