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. 2014 Mar 27;9(3):e93287. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093287

Figure 1. Schematic representation summarizing the experimental model.

Figure 1

Three different animal categories of cattle [heifers (H), peak-lactation cows (PL) and repeat-breeder (RB)] and two of buffaloes [nulliparous (N) and multiparous (M)] were used in this study during winter (H, n = 34; PL, n = 32; RB, n = 31; N, n = 9; and M, n = 7) and summer (H, n = 36; PL, n = 37; RB, n = 36; N, n = 8; and M, n = 11). On random days of the estrous cycle (d0), cattle were treated with 2 mg of estradiol benzoate (EB), 150 µg of cloprostenol sodium (CS) and 50 mg of progesterone (P) whereas buffaloes were treated with 2 mg of EB and 530 µg of CS. Furthermore, both cattle and buffaloes received a norgestomet ear implant for five days (until d5) before performing ovum pick up (OPU). Viable cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) recovered during OPU sessions were carefully denuded of cumulus cells and the oocytes individually stored for molecular analyses.