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In vitro development of spontaneously activated bovine oocytes

  • Animal Experimentation
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Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the development of bovine parthenogenetic and in vitro fertilization-derived (IVF) embryos. Oocytes were matured, fertilized, or allowed to activate spontaneously by aging and then cultured for up to 14 days in vitro. Cleavage and development rates, morphology, ultrastructure, and transcriptional activity were compared.

Results: Very few parthenogenotes (7.5% of aged oocytes) were obtained and none developed to the hatched blastocyst stage. The pattern of3H-uridine incorporation at the two-, four-, and eight-cell stages was similar in both types of embryos. Morphological study, however, revealed that none of the parthenogenotes showed features associated with long-term development: they were developmentally delayed and usually arrested before reaching the blastocyst stage (only 0.5% of aged oocytes developed to the blastocyst stage). Structural differences between parthenogenotes and the IVF-derived embryos were observed at all stages of development.

Conclusions: Structural observation suggested that failure of long-term development of bovine parthenogenotes may have a metabolic basis. Some functional changes appeared to coincide with chronological age rather than developmental age. Even though development of parthenogenotes was limited, some features of nuclear maturation and activation of the embryonic genome occur without contribution of the paternal genome.

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Author notes

  1. Louise Plante

    Present address: Hurley Hospital, 2 Hurley Plaza, Suite 101, 48503, Flint, Michigan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, N1G 2W1, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    W. Allan King

Authors
  1. Louise Plante
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  2. W. Allan King
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Correspondence to W. Allan King.

Additional information

A portion of this paper was presented as a poster at the International Embryo Transfer Society's Annual Meeting, Denver, 1993 [Plante L, King WA: Developmental potential of spontaneously activated bovine oocytes. Theriogenology 1993;39:268 (abstract).]

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Plante, L., King, W.A. In vitro development of spontaneously activated bovine oocytes. J Assist Reprod Genet 13, 435–446 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02066178

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02066178

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