63 PARTHENOGENETIC DEVELOPMENT OF PORCINE OOCYTES RECONSTRUCTED BY CENTRIFUGATION AND ELECTROFUSION AFTER METAPHASE-II CHROMOSOME TRANSFER

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
N. Maedomari ◽  
K. Kikuchi ◽  
M. Fahrudin ◽  
M. Nakai ◽  
M. Ozawa ◽  
...  

Metaphase-II chromosome transfer (M-II transfer) is considered to be a useful technique for studying nucleus–cytoplasm relationships, or for generating oocytes with good developmental ability after transfer of the nucleus to the cytoplasm. The reconstructed oocytes carry the original genomic information within the metaphase chromosomes from the donor oocytes. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the parthenogenetic developmental ability of porcine M-II transferred oocytes. In vitro maturation was carried out as reported previously (Kikuchi et al. 2002 Biol. Reprod. 66, 1033–1041). After culture for 44 h, cumulus cells were removed by hyaluronidase treatment and gentle pipetting. Oocytes that had extruded the first polar body were selected and centrifuged at 13 000g for 9 min to stratify the cytoplasm. The zonae pellucidae were removed after exposure to pronase, and zona-free oocytes were layered on a 300 �L discontinuous gradient (100 �L each of 45%, 30%, and 7.5%) of Percoll in TCM-HEPES supplemented with 5 �g mL-1 cytochalasin B. After centrifugation of the oocytes on the gradient in microcentrifuge tubes at 6000g for 20 s, fragmented cytoplasm with an equal volume was obtained, stained with Hoechst 33342, and classified as cytoplasm with or without chromosomes by observation with a fluorescence microscope. One fragmented cytoplasm with chromosomes and 2 fragmented cytoplasms without chromosomes were fused by electric stimulation with a single DC pulse (1.5 kV cm-1, 20 �s) and cultured temporarily for 1 h. The reconstructed oocytes were then stimulated again to induce parthenogenetic activation (0.8 kV cm-1, 30 �s, 2 DC pulses) (treatment group). Zona-free mature oocytes that had not been subjected to reconstruction were activated as a control group. The oocytes in both groups were treated with 5 �g mL-1 cytochalasin B for 2 h, and then cultured for 6 days in media (Kikuchi et al. 2002) using the WOW system (Gabor et al. 2000 Mol. Reprod. Dev.). The blastocyst formation rate in the control group (22.9 � 5.5%) was significantly higher (P < 0.05; ANOVA and PLSD-test) than that in the treatment group (7.6 � 1.8%). The total cell number per blastocyst in the control group (28.7 � 4.6) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that in the treatment group (16.7 � 1.0). These results suggest that reconstructed porcine oocytes following M-II transfer by centrifugation and electrofusion can develop to the blastocyst stage in vitro. This technique enables transfer of the nucleus to cytoplasm with good developmental ability without the use of a micro-manipulation system.

Reproduction ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 132 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamás Somfai ◽  
Manabu Ozawa ◽  
Junko Noguchi ◽  
Hiroyuki Kaneko ◽  
Katsuhiko Ohnuma ◽  
...  

We investigated nuclear progression and in vitro embryonic development after parthenogenetic activation of porcine oocytes exposed to cytochalasin B (CB) during in vitro maturation (IVM). Nuclear progression was similar in control oocytes and oocytes matured in the presence of 1 μg/ml CB (IVM-CB group) by 37 h IVM; at this time the proportion of oocytes that had reached or passed through the anaphase-I stage did not differ significantly between the IVM-CB and the control groups (61.3 and 69.9% respectively; P < 0.05). After IVM for 37 h, no polar body extrusion was observed in the IVM-CB group. In these oocytes, the two lumps of homologous chromosomes remained in the ooplasm after their segregation and turned into two irregular sets of condensed chromosomes. By 41 h IVM, the double sets of chromosomes had reunited in 89.5% IVM-CB oocytes and formed a single large metaphase plate, whereas 68.8% of the control oocytes had reached the metaphase-II stage by this time. When IVM-CB oocytes cultured for 46 h were stimulated with an electrical pulse and subsequently cultured for 8 h without CB, 39.0% of them extruded a polar body and 82.9% of them had a female pronucleus. Chromosome analysis revealed that the majority of oocytes that extruded a polar body were diploid in both the control and the IVM-CB groups. However, the incidence of polyploidy in the IVM-CB group was higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). In vitro development of diploid parthenotes in the control and the IVM-CB groups was similar in terms of blastocyst formation rates (45.8 and 42.8% respectively), number of blastomeres (39.9 and 44.4 respectively), the percentage of dead cells (4.3 and 2.9% respectively), and the frequency of apoptotic cells (7.3 and 6.3% respectively). Tetraploid embryos had a lower blastocyst formation rate (25.5%) and number of cells (26.2); however, the proportion of apoptotic nuclei (7.0%) was similar to that in diploid parthenotes. These results suggest that the proportion of homozygous and heterozygous genes does not affect in vitro embryo development to the blastocyst stage.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 271
Author(s):  
C.S. Park ◽  
D.I. Jin ◽  
M.Y. Kim ◽  
Y.J. Chang ◽  
Y.J. Yi

Efficient activation is essential for the success of animal cloning by nuclear transfer. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of chemical activation agents on parthenogenetic development of pig oocytes matured in vitro. The medium used for oocyte maturation was TCM-199 supplemented with 26.19mM sodium bicarbonate, 0.9mM sodium pyruvate, 10μgmL−1 insulin, 2μgmL−1 vitamin B12, 25mM HEPES, 10μgmL−1 bovine apotransferrin, 150μM cysteamine, 10IUmL−1 PMSG, 10IUmL−1 hCG, 10ngmL−1 EGF, 0.4% BSA, 75μgmL−1 sodium penicillin G, 50μgmL−1 streptomycin sulfate and 10% pFF. After about 22h of maturation, oocytes were cultured without cysteamine and hormones for 22h at 38.5°C, 5% CO2 in air. Cumulus-free oocytes showing first polar body were selected for activation. Oocytes were activated as follows. First, all oocytes were activated with 25mM HEPES buffered NCSU-23 medium containing 8% ethanol for 10min. After that, in treatment 1, oocytes were incubated in the NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 7.5μgmL−1 cytochalasin B for 3h. In treatment 2, oocytes were incubated in the NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 10μgmL−1 cycloheximide for 3h. In treatment 3, oocytes were incubated in the NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 7.5μgmL−1 cytochalasin B for 1.5h, and then were incubated in the NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 10μgmL−1 cycloheximide for 1.5h. In treatment 4, oocytes were incubated in the NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 7.5μgmL−1 cytochalasin B plus 10μgmL−1 cycloheximide for 3h. Following activation, oocytes were transferred into 500μL NCSU-23 culture medium containing 0.4% BSA for further culture for 20 and 144h. Activated oocytes were fixed and stained for evaluation of activation rate, cleaved oocytes, blastocyst formation rate and cell numbers per blastocyst. Data were analysed by ANOVA and Duncan’s multiple range test using the SAS program. The rate of oocyte activation was higher in treatment 4 (62.1%) than in treatment 1, 2 and 3 (52.0, 49.6 and 58.0%, respectively). The percentage of cleaved oocytes was lower in treatment 1 and 2 (56.9 and 55.2%) than in treatment 3 and 4 (68.8 and 68.5%). The rate of blastocyst formation from the cleaved oocytes was higher in treatment 3 and 4 (19.8 and 22.0%) than in treatment 1 and 2 (12.1 and 11.7%). Mean cells per blastocyst were lowest in treatment 2 (21.2±0.9) compared to treatment 1, 3 and 4 (27.3±2.2, 30.4±3.8 and 30.9±3.4, respectively). In conclusion, cytochalasin B combined with cycloheximide was more efficient for parthenogenetic development of pig oocytes matured in vitro.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 266
Author(s):  
T. Somfai ◽  
K. Kikuchi ◽  
J. Noguchi ◽  
H. Kaneko ◽  
K. Ohnuma ◽  
...  

Diploid parthenotes are usually obtained by the inhibition of second polar body (PB2) extrusion after activation of metaphase II (MII) oocytes. However, diploid embryos can be generated by the inhibition of the first polar body (PB1) extrusion as well, using cytochalasin B (CB) during in vitro maturation prior the activation procedure. A higher percentage of mouse embryos generated by the activation of MII oocytes and the inhibition of PB2 extrusion were proven to be homozygous than for parthenotes obtained by the latter method (Kubiak et al. 1991 Development 111, 763-769). The aim of the present study was to examine if such difference has any effect on the development of parthenogenetic embryos in vitro. Nuclear progression and in vitro embryonic development after parthenogenetic activation of porcine oocytes exposed to CB during in vitro maturation (IVM) was investigated in the present study. The tendency of nuclear maturation was similar in oocytes matured in the presence of 1 �g/mL CB (IVM-CB group) and control oocytes matured without CB after 37 h of IVM; at this time the frequency of oocytes that had reached/or passed through anaphase-I stage did not differ significantly (P < 0.05) between the IVM-CB and the control groups (61.3% and 69.9%, respectively), however, no polar body extrusion was observed in the IVM-CB group and the two lumps of homologue chromosomes remained in the oocyte and turned into two irregular sets of condensed chromosomes. By 41 h of IVM, the double sets of chromosomes re-united in 89.5% of IVM-CB oocytes and formed a single large metaphase plate, whereas 68.8% of the control oocytes had reached metaphase-II stage (MII) by this time. When IVM-CB oocytes were electrically (1.5 kV/cm for 100 �s) activated and subsequently cultured without CB, 39% of the oocytes extruded a polar body (PB) and 82.9% of them had a female pronucleus. When those oocytes with PB were cultured, the blastocyst rate of the cleaved embryos did not differ (P < 0.05) from those of the control that were stimulated at MII and subsequently treated with CB (43.3% and 48.2%, respectively). The number of blastomeres in Day 6 blastocysts was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the IVM-CB derived embryos than in those in the control group (47.8 and 40.7, respectively); moreover, the ratio of dead blastomeres (dead cells : live cells) was higher (P < 0.05) in the control than in the IVM-CB blastocysts (0.047 and 0.031, respectively). A possible explanation for this result might be a lower frequency of homozygous genes in IVM-CB parthenotes, in which segregation of sister chromatids were promoted instead of segregation of homologous chromosomes to obtain diploid embryos. In such embryos the expression of recessive lethal, sublethal and subvital genes might have a lower probability. This work was supported by the Japanese-Hungarian bilateral scientific and technological cooperation (TET JAP-11/02).


Zygote ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 416-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Yun ◽  
Peng An ◽  
Jing Ning ◽  
Gui-Ming Zhao ◽  
Wen-Lin Yang ◽  
...  

SummaryOocyte-specific linker histone, H1foo, is localized on the oocyte chromosomes during the process of meiotic maturation, and is essential for mouse oocyte maturation. Bovine H1foo has been identified, and its expression profile throughout oocyte maturation and early embryo development has been established. However, it has not been confirmed if H1foo is indispensable during bovine oocyte maturation. Effective siRNAs against H1foo were screened in HeLa cells, and then siRNA was microinjected into bovine oocytes to down-regulate H1foo expression. H1foo overexpression was achieved via mRNA injection. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results indicated that H1foo was up-regulated by 200% and down-regulated by 70%. Based on the first polar body extrusion (PB1E) rate, H1foo overexpression apparently promoted meiotic progression. The knockdown of H1foo significantly impaired bovine oocyte maturation compared with H1foo overexpression and control groups (H1foo overexpression = 88.7%, H1foo siRNA = 41.2%, control = 71.2%; P < 0.05). This decrease can be rescued by co-injection of a modified H1foo mRNA that has escaped from the siRNA target. However, the H1e (somatic linker histone) overexpression had no effect on PB1E rate when compared with the control group. Therefore we concluded that H1foo is essential for bovine oocyte maturation and its overexpression stimulates the process.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
D. N. Q. Thanh ◽  
K. Matsukawa ◽  
M. Kaneda ◽  
S. Akagi ◽  
Y. Kanai ◽  
...  

In the mouse, single blastomeres of the 2-cell embryos can develop into adult mice and occasionally both separated blastomeres can give rise to twin animals (reviewed by Tarkowski AK et al. 2001 Int. J. Dev. Biol. 45, 591–596). As a preliminary study for production of monozygotic twins from porcine 2-cell embryos, we investigated the effects of removal of zona pellucida and blastomere isolation at the 2-cell stage on subsequent development of parthenogenetic embryos. Oocytes with the first polar body were parthenogenetically activated after 44 h of in vitro maturation. Stimulated oocytes were then incubated in IVC-PyrLac (IVC medium with pyruvate and lactose) according to the method reported by Kikuchi K et al. (2002 Biol. Reprod. 66, 1033–1041). After 24 to 30 h of parthenogenetic activation, equally cleaved 2-cell embryos were selected and used for the experiments. Some 2-cell embryos were then treated with pronase to remove the zona pellucida and cultured individually as zona-free 2-cell embryos having 2 blastomeres in pair (ZF group), and single blastomeres were split from ZF group and cultured separately (SB group) in V-shaped microwells. In addition, intact 2-cell embryos were cultured individually without pronase treatment as a control group. After 24 h of in vitro culture, IVC-PyrLac was replaced by IVC-Glu (IVC with glucose). The blastocyst rates on Day 6 (Day 0 was defined as the day of electrical stimulation) in control, ZF, and SB groups did not differ (47.6, 50.0, and 42.1%, respectively). Nevertheless, blastocysts derived from the ZF (28.6 ± 3.0) and SB groups (25.9 ± 1.3) had a significantly lower total cell number than that of the control group (41.7 ± 3.2; P < 0.01 by ANOVA). Although the total cell number of blastocysts originating from single blastomeres was significantly lower than that in the intact embryos, the blastocyst formation rates were not different between them. This indicated the possibility of production of monozygotic twins from porcine 2-cell embryos divided into 2 single blastomeres. However, further research is needed to improve blastocyst quality descended from single blastomeres. In conclusion, the removal of the zona pellucida had a negative influence on blastocyst quality but did not affect the development of porcine embryos to the blastocyst stage.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
L. T. K. Do ◽  
Y. Sato ◽  
M. Taniguchi ◽  
T. Otoi

The developmental ability of interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) embryos decreases as the taxonomic distance between the donor and recipient species increases. Treatment of cat iSCNT embryos using bovine oocytes with 50 nM of trichostatin A (TSA) improves in vitro embryonic development (Wittayarat et al. 2013 Cell. Reprogram. 15, 301–308). This study investigated whether the TSA treatment effects differ between the development of cat iSCNT embryos reconstructed with porcine and bovine oocytes. Porcine and bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes were in vitro matured for 44 h and 24 h, respectively. After cumulus cell removal, enucleation was performed by aspiration of the metaphase II plate and the first polar body using a piezo-driven pipette. A cat fibroblast cell was then injected into cytoplasm of successfully enucleated oocyte. Reconstructed cybrids were electrically activated by a single 1.5 kV cm–1 pulse for 100 µs (pig-cat embryos), or a 2.3 kV cm–1 pulse for 30 µs (cow-cat embryos). Pig-cat and cow-cat embryos were cultured in porcine zygote medium (PZM)-5 and modified synthetic oviducal fluid medium (mSOF), respectively. After electrical activation, pig-cat and cow-cat embryos were cultured in medium supplemented with 5 µg mL–1 cytochalasin B + 50 nM TSA (TSA group) or without TSA (control group), and the cow-cat embryo medium was also supplemented with 10 µg mL–1 cycloheximide. After 2 h, TSA-treated pig-cat and cow-cat embryos were incubated in medium supplemented with TSA for 22 h, followed by 48 h incubation without TSA. Pig-cat and cow-cat control embryos were cultured in medium without TSA for 70 h after activation. Then, all pig-cat and cow-cat embryos were cultured in porcine blastocyst medium (PBM) or mSOF medium supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum, respectively, for 5 additional days. Four to seven replicates were performed for each experiment. Data were analysed using Student's t-test. For pig-cat embryos, no difference was observed in cleavage rates between both groups, but development to the blastocyst stage was higher in the pig control group (n = 147, 8.0%) than that of pig TSA group (n = 131, 0.7%; P < 0.05). In contrast, development to the blastocyst stage in cow-cat embryos was not observed in the cow control group (n = 125, 0%), but it was observed in cow TSA group (n = 136, 3.7%). These results indicate that TSA treatment effects are species-specific, but those effects remain to be clarified.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Sepvian Dewi Kurniawati ◽  
Suryanie Sarudji ◽  
Widjiati Widjiati

This study was aimed to determine the effect of urea in maturation medium on in vitro oocyte maturation rate. The medium used was TCM-199 added with Hepes, NaHCO3, Kanamycin 0.15 IU/mL, PMSG, 0.15 IU/mL hCG, and 10% FBS. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) of cows derived from follicle aspiration were divided into three groups. In control group (P0), the COCs were matured in vitro in a maturation medium without urea addition, meanwhile in the P1 and P2 groups, the medium was added with urea 20 and 40 mg/dL, respectively. Each petri dish contained three drops of maturation medium (300 µl/drops) according to the groups. Microdrops were coated with mineral oil and then incubated in a 5% CO2 incubator, at 39 ˚C with maximum humidity. Aceto-orcein staining was conducted to evaluate the maturation of oocytes based on the achievement of metaphase II phase that is indicated by the presence of metaphase plate and/or first polar body. The result showed that the oocyte maturation rates of P0, P1, and P2 were 51.25, 52.43 (p >0.05), and 46.88 % (p <0.05) respectively. It could be concluded that the presence of urea at 40 mg/dL in maturation medium reduced the percentage of bovine oocyte maturation in vitro.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (21) ◽  
pp. 6346
Author(s):  
Benazir Abbasi ◽  
Yan Dong ◽  
Rong Rui

Postovulatory aging of the mammalian oocytes causes deterioration of oocytes through several factors including oxidative stress. Keeping that in mind, we aimed to investigate the potential of a well-known antioxidant, resveratrol (RV), to evaluate the adverse effects of postovulatory aging in porcine oocytes. After in vitro maturation (IVM), a group of (25–30) oocytes (in three replicates) were exposed to 0, 1, 2, and 4 μmol/L of RV, respectively. The results revealed that the first polar body (PB1) extrusion rate of the oocytes significantly increased when the RV concentration reached up to 2 μmol/L (p < 0.05). Considering optimum RV concentration of 2 μmol/L, the potential of RV was evaluated in oocytes aged for 24 and 48 h. We used fluorescence microscopy to detect the relative level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), while GHS contents were measured through the enzymatic method. Our results revealed that aged groups (24 h and 48 h) treated with RV (2 μmol/L) showed higher (p < 0.05) ROS fluorescence intensity than the control group, but lower (p < 0.05) than untreated aged groups. The GSH content in untreated aged groups (24 h and 48 h) was lower (p < 0.05) than RV-treated groups, but both groups showed higher levels than the control. Similarly, the relative expression of the genes involved in antioxidant activity (CAT, GPXGSH-Px, and SOD1) in RV-treated groups was lower (p < 0.05) as compared to the control group but higher than that of untreated aged groups. Moreover, the relative mRNA expression of caspase-3 and Bax in RV-treated groups was higher (p < 0.05) than the control group but lower than untreated groups. Furthermore, the expression of Bcl-2 in the RV-treated group was significantly lower than control but higher than untreated aged groups. Taken together, our findings revealed that the RV can increase the expression of antioxidant genes by decreasing the level of ROS, and its potent antiapoptotic effects resisted against the decline in mitochondrial membrane potential in aged oocytes.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 270
Author(s):  
I. Lagutina ◽  
G. Lazzari ◽  
C. Galli

The completion of porcine oocyte nuclear maturation (MII) in vitro, characterized by the time of polar body extrusion, starts at about 32h of maturation and lasts more than 12h. This leads to the simultaneous presence in the population of matured oocytes with differing abilities to be activated. We investigated age-dependent changes in pig oocyte maturation, activation and development in SOFaa in response to electric impulse (EL) in the presence of cytochalasin B (CB) and EL in combination with cycloheximide and cytochalasin B (EL+CHX+CB). Oocytes were matured in TCM 199 with 10% FCS, cysteine, LH, FSH (Pergovet, Serono, Geneva, Switzerland) for 36h and then decumulated. Matured oocytes were activated at 40 and 44h by double pulse of 30μs DC 1, 5kVcm−1 and cultured in 5μgmL−1 CB for 4h or by EL followed by incubation in 10μgmL−1 CHX+5μgmL−1 CB for 4h. According to the MII-age before activation oocytes were divided into 2 age classes: 3–7 and 7–11h after polar body extrusion. Embryos were cultured in SOFaa in 5% CO2, 5% O2 at 38.5°C. The rates of cleavage, blastocyst formation and cell number of BL on Day 7 (BLD7) were recorded. Our results showed that the average rate of maturation at 44h was 72% (n=1377). About 50% and 87% of oocytes, that eventually matured, extruded the polar body at 37 and 40h, respectively. The average cell number of BLD7 developed in SOFaa was 80±36 (n=52) and was not affected by activation protocol. Seventy-nine and 27% of BL had more than 50 and 100 cells per BL, respectively. Porcine oocytes activated by EL acquired their developmental competence gradually, achieving the highest rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation 7h after polar body extrusion. By contrast, oocytes activated by EL+CHX+CB showed their maximal developmental competence earlier (3–7h group). In conclusion, we demonstrate that electric impulse in combination with CHX+CB treatment permits earlier efficient activation of porcine oocytes (3–7h after polar body extrusion).


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
N. Maedomari ◽  
K. Kikuchi ◽  
M. Fahrudin ◽  
N. Nakai ◽  
M. Ozawa ◽  
...  

Metaphase-II chromosome transfer (M-II transfer) of oocytes is considered to be one of the advanced procedures to improve fertilization and developmental abilities of oocytes with poor cytoplasmic maturation. The aim of this study was to investigate the developmental capacity after IVF and IVC of porcine oocytes reconstructed from karyoplasts and cytoplasts produced by centri-fusion (Fahrudin et al. 2007 Cloning Stem Cells 9, 216–228). In brief, IVM oocytes (Kikuchi et al. 2002 Biol. Reprod. 66, 1033–1041) with a visible first polar body were centrifuged at 13 000g for 9 min to stratify the cytoplasm. Then the zonae pellucidae were removed with pronase treatment. Zona-free oocytes were layered on a 300-µL discontinuous gradient of Percoll in TCM-HEPES with 5 µg mL–1 of cytochalasin B. After centrifugation at 6000g for 4 s, fragmented cytoplasms with approximately equal volumes were obtained, stained with Hoechst-33342, and classified into cytoplasm with (K; karyoplast) or without (C; cytoplast) chromosomes. One karyoplast was fused with 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 cytoplasts (K, K + 1C, K + 2C, K + 3C, and K + 4C, respectively) by an electric stimulation with a single DC pulse (1.5 kV cm–1 for 20 µs) and cultured for 1 h. Zona-free oocytes without any reconstruction served as control oocytes. The diameters of the reconstructed and control oocytes were measured. All specimens were fertilized in vitro with frozen–thawed boar sperm, and cultured using the well of the well (WOW) system (Vajta et al. 2000 Mol. Reprod. Dev. 55, 256–264). Their fertilization status and developmental competence were examined. Data were analyzed by ANOVA followed by Duncan's multiple range tests. The diameter differed significantly among K to K + 4C oocytes (75.0–127.1 µm; P < 0.05), whereas the diameter of K + 2C oocytes was similar to that of the control oocytes (110.5 µm). Regardless of the cytoplast volume, sperm penetration rates (73.1–93.8%) for K to K + 4C oocytes were not significantly different compared to control oocytes (78.0%). Male pronuclear formation rates of K to K + 4C oocytes (92.3–97.1%) were also not different significantly different compared to control oocytes (96.6%). However, monospermy rates of K oocytes was significantly higher (61.6%; P < 0.05) than those of the reconstructed (K + 1C to K + 4C; 18.2–34.9%) and control oocytes (32.9%). The blastocyst formation rates in K, K + 1C, K + 2C, and K + 3C groups (0.0–9.8%; P < 0.05) were significantly lower than those in the control and K + 4C groups (17.8% and 15.3%, respectively; P < 0.05). The total cell numbers per blastocyst in K + 1C and K + 2C groups (7.5 and 8.3 cells, respectively) were significantly lower than in the control, K + 3C, and K + 4C groups (15.3–26.2 cells; P < 0.05). These results suggest that the cytoplast volume of porcine M-II transferred oocytes, produced by reconstruction from a karyoplast and cytoplast(s) and centri-fusion, is important for their ability to develop to the blastocyst stage and influences cell number.


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