The development of ovine preantral follicles after in vitro culture of ovarian cortex in various concentrations of indol acetic acid (IAA) was evaluated. The ovarian cortex was divided into fragments of approximately 3×3mm. One fragment was immediately fixed in Bouin (control - day 0) whereas the other fragments were cultured for two or six days in minimum essential medium (MEM) supplemented (MEM+) with 10, 40, 100, 500 or 1000ng/ml of IAA. After six days of in vitro culture the percentage of primordial and developing follicles remained unaltered when compared to control follicles, except for MEM+ added of 40ng/ml of IAA that presented reduction of primordial follicles and increase of developing follicles (P<0.05). The culture of ovarian cortex for six days, in all tested media, reduced the percentages of healthy follicles when compared to control follicles (P<0.05). After two days of culture this reduction was only observed in the follicles treated with 500 or 1000ng/ml of IAA. Ovine primordial follicles may be successfully activated in vitro after culturing in MEM+ containing 40ng/ml of IAA.
ovine; preantral follicle; in vitro culture; indol acetic acid
