Pre-implantation embryo metabolism demonstrates distinctive characteristics associated with the development potential of embryos. We aim to determine if metabolic differences correlate with embryo morphology. In this study, gas chromatography - mass spectroscopy (GC-MS)-based metabolomics was used to assess the culture media of goat cloned embryos collected from high-quality (HQ) and low-quality (LQ) groups based on morphology. Expression levels of amino acid transport genes were further examined by quantitative real-time PCR. Results showed that the HQ group presented higher percentages of blastocysts compared with the LQ counterparts (P < 0.05). Metabolic differences were also present between HQ and LQ groups. The culture media of the HQ group showed lower levels of valin, lysine, glutamine, mannose and acetol, and higher levels of glucose, phytosphingosine and phosphate than those of the LQ group. Additionally, expression levels of amino acid transport genes SLC1A5 and SLC3A2 were significantly lower in the HQ group than the LQ group (P < 0.05, respectively). To our knowledge, this is the first report which uses GC-MS to detect metabolic differences in goat cloned embryo culture media. The biochemical profiles may help to select the most in vitro viable embryos.

中文翻译：

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通过气相色谱-基于质谱的代谢组学分析，对与主观形态相关的山羊克隆胚胎的培养基进行非侵入式评估。

植入前的胚胎代谢显示出与胚胎发育潜力相关的独特特征。我们旨在确定代谢差异是否与胚胎形态相关。在这项研究中，基于气相色谱-质谱（GC-MS）的代谢组学被用来评估从山羊（HQ）和低质量（LQ）组收集的山羊克隆胚胎的培养基。通过定量实时PCR进一步检查了氨基酸转运基因的表达水平。结果表明，与LQ组相比，HQ组的囊胚百分比更高（P <0.05）。总部和LQ组之间也存在代谢差异。HQ组的培养基显示出较低的缬氨酸，赖氨酸，谷氨酰胺，甘露糖和丙酮醇含量，而葡萄糖含量较高，植物鞘氨醇和磷酸盐的含量高于LQ组。此外，HQ组的氨基酸转运基因SLC1A5和SLC3A2的表达水平显着低于LQ组（分别为P <0.05）。据我们所知，这是第一份使用GC-MS检测山羊克隆胚胎培养基中代谢差异的报告。生化特征可能有助于选择最活体外的胚胎。