Derivation of embryonic stem cells and primordial germ cell-like cells in cattle

The induction of germ lineage from pluripotent stem cells, or in vitro gametogenesis, is an important basis for understanding the mechanisms of germ cell differentiation and providing an alternative source of gametes for reproduction. Here, we developed a novel method for robust induction of primordial germ cell-like cells (PGCLCs) from newly established bovine embryonic stem cells (bES). Furthermore, we determined culture conditions suitable for PGCLC differentiation using the induced bES. It was shown that bESCs induced by the new method have the same gene expression as conventional bESCs and that induced PGCLCs have the same gene expression as PGCs.