The ecological adaptability of cloned sheep to free-grazing in the Tengger Desert of Inner Mongolia, China

Changqing Yu,Chunling Bai,Guanghua Su,Guangpeng Li,Huijuan Wang,Shorgan Bou,Wuni-Menghe Wuni-Menghe,Xinxin Li,Yanhui Hou,Zhuying Wei

doi:10.15302/j-fase-2014029

Changqing Yu, Chunling Bai + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.15302/j-fase-2014029

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Abstract

Since the birth of the first cloned sheep, somatic cell nuclear transfer technology has been success- fully used to clone a variety of mammals. Cloned livestock have no apparent health risks, and the quality and safety of the cloned animal products are similar to non-cloned animals. The social behavior and environmental adapt- ability of postnatal cloned animals, especially when used for grassland farm production purposes, is unknown. In the present study, the cloned Dorper sheep equipped with GPS location devices were free-grazed in a harsh natural environment similar to conditions commonly experienced by Mongolian sheep. The main findings of this research were as follows. (1) Under free-grazing conditions, the cloned sheep showed excellent climatic and ecological adaptability. In extreme temperature conditions ranging from -30 to 40°C, the cloned sheep maintained acceptable body condition and behaved as other sheep. (2) The cloned sheep quickly adapted from a herd feeding strategy to the harsh environment and quickly exhibited a grazing regi- men as other free-grazing sheep. (3) The cloned sheep exhibited free-grazing patterns and social behavior as other sheep. (4) The cloned sheep in the harsh environment thrived and produced healthy lambs. Overall, the cloned Dorper sheep exhibited excellent ecological adaptation, which is an important consideration for breeding meat sheep by cloning. The Dorper sheep readily adapted to the free-grazing conditions on the Mongolian plateau grass- land, which attests to their ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions.

Highlights

Since the birth of the first cloned sheep by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a variety of animals have been successfully cloned, but the efficiency of viable offspring is still low [1]
The Dorper sheep readily adapted to the free-grazing conditions on the Mongolian plateau grassland, which attests to their ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions
The donor cells of the cloned sheep were derived from genetically superior Dorper sheep owned by the Inner Mongolia Sainuo Grassland Sheep Industry Co., Ltd

Summary

Introduction

Since the birth of the first cloned sheep by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a variety of animals have been successfully cloned, but the efficiency of viable offspring is still low [1]. Major problems associated with SCNT are lowered production efficiency resulting from high mortality of clones during pregnancy and low survival rate after birth [2]. The post-birth development and growth performance and behavior of cloned animals have been extensively studied. Shibata et al [4] and Hu et al [5] reported that cloned pigs and their offspring were similar to others of the same breed in growth, reproduction and meat production [6]. Gwazdauskas et al [10] reported that the behavior of cloned gilts was the same as that of non-cloned gilts

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