Studies on Electrical Activation of Porcine Oocytes Matured in vitro and Embryo Culture Systems

Conditions for electrical parthenogenetic activation of porcine oocytes matured in vitro and in vitro culture systems of porcine embryo were studied. The best results were achieved under the conditions of electrical field strength and the pulse duration at 130Vmm-1/80 us, with a blastocyst development rate of (20.12 ± 8.18) % (P > 0.05). No significant difference was found between treatments of multiple pulses and a single pulse (P > 0.05). Parthenogenetic embryos were cultured with different methods and air conditions for 7 days in vitro, blastocyst development rate of embryos with changed culture media [ (26.44 ± 8.35) % ] or changed media with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) [ (17.68 ± 5.39)% ] on the fifth day showing no significant difference from that of embryos without change of culture media [ (25.30 ± 7.55) % , P > 0.05 ], while cell numbers of blastocysts from embryos with changed culture media (15.78 + 5.46 and 14.55 ± 4.81) were significantly lower than number of blastocysts from embryos without change of culture media (18.01 ± 6.79, P<0.01). Blastocyst development rate and blastocyst cell number of embryos cultured in lower O2(5%CO2: 7%O2:88%N2) also showed no significant difference from those in high O2(5%CO2 in air) [(20.78 ± 8. 80)% and 17.0016.12 vs. (25.30 ± 7.55)% and 18.0116.79, P>0.05]. It is concluded that change of culture media with the same new one or changing over to media with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) on the fifth day and low O2 environment are not necessary for porcine embryos development.

Establishment of a Highly Efficient Regeneration System for the Mature Embryo Culture of Wheat

Establishment of a highly efficient regeneration system for the mature embryo of wheat will provide a convenient tool for wheat tissue culture and transformation, thereby facilitating the transformation of foreign genes into wheat. By using the mature embryos derived from 20 different wheat lines including Shi 4185, Yumai 66, Lunxuan 987, CB037, Yangmai 6, Xinchun 9, Bobwhite, Han 6172, Zheng 9023, Jimai 20, Ningchun 4, and Jing 411, the effects of some factors including inoculation methods, initiating culture media, organic additives, antioxidants, and auxins on the regeneration from the explants were evaluated. The results indicated that the scraping embryo culture was better than the whole embryo culture, the Aa medium was better than the SD2 medium and dicamba was better than 2,4-D in increasing the regeneration frequency. An Adi medium was established in this study by adding silver nitrate, cysteine, ascorbic acid, dicamba, glutamine into the Aa medium at the concentration of 4,40, 100, 2, and 5 mg L^-1, respectively. By using the Adi medium and the scraping technique, the regeneration frequencies of the mature embryos of CB037, Lunxuan 987, Hart 6172, Yangmai 6, Bobwhite, Zheng 9023, Shi 4 185, and Jimai 20 became 85.6, 60,1, 46.0, 42.1,42.0, 34.0, 33.0, and 32.0%, respectively, which were about 5-8 times higher than that obtained from the conventional culture mediums and techniques. This novel regeneration system could be helpful in wheat transformation.

Are Early Embryo Cleavage Kinetics Affected by Energy Substrates in Different Culture Media?

Objective This study aimed to investigate the influence of different culture media on early embryonic cleavage kinetics using time-lapse analysis and to determine the possible relationships between energy substrates in culture media and the cleavage kinetics.Methods A total of 10021 embryos from 1310 couples were cultured in time-lapse incubators.Embryos cultured in Vitrolife media were allocated to group I,and those in COOK media to group II.Embryo cleavage time points up to the 8-cell stage(t2–t8)were observed after pronuclei fading.Results The baseline demographic features,in vitro fertilization indications,ovarian stimulation protocol,oocyte-cumulus complexes,fertilization rate,together with pregnancy and perinatal outcomes were similar(P>0.05)between groups I and II.According to the time-lapse analysis,all embryos in group I showed significantly faster cleavage speed than those in group II(P<0.05).Furthermore,there was better synchrony in division(s3)and a longer length of the third cell cycle duration(cc3)in group II.Interestingly,implanted embryos in group II showed faster cleavage speed than those in group I,especially at t4 and t7.The glucose contents and multiple major amino acids were similar between the two groups.Lactic and pyruvic acid contents were generally higher in group I than those in group II.Conclusion Because different commercial culture media may influence cleavage kinetics of embryos,it is essential for embryologists to take culture media into consideration in selecting a potential embryo when using a time-lapse system before implantation.

Analysis of Gene Effect on Four Characters of Immature Embryo Culture in Maize

This study was to find the regularity in the hereditary variation for the main culturing characters of the immature embryo culture in maize. Two kinds of inbred-line, R18-599 （red） with very excellent embryo culturing capacity and R15 with very poor embryo culturing capacity, were used as P1 and P2 for obtaining six generations. By culturing immature embryos of the six generations, four culturing characters, namely embryonic callus induction efficiency, nonembryonic callus induction efficiency, cloning ability of the embryonic callus, and number of regenerating plants, were analyzed using the general mean analysis and generation joint analysis. Results showed that the embryonic callus induction efficiency accorded with two major additive-dominance-epistatic genes and polygene-mixed additive-dominance-epistatic inheritance model. The induction efficiency of the nonembryonic callus accorded with two major additive-dominance-epistatic genes. The number of regenerating plants accorded with one major gene and polygene-mixed additive-dominance inheritance model. The cloning ability of the embryo callus accorded with two major genes and polygene-mixed inheritance model, whereas the effect of epistatic gene on this character was identified results of the two methods, generation joint analysis may genetic information. to be different using the two methods. By comparison of the not only raise experimental precision but also provide more

Manganese enhances the expression of the manganese superoxide dismutase in cultured primary chick embryonic myocardial cells

In the present study, the effect of manganese（Mn） on antioxidant status and the expression of the manganese superoxide dismutase（MnSOD） gene in cultured primary myocardial cells collected from the chick embryos was investigated. The hypothesis that Mn supplementation would enhance the expression of MnSOD in cultured primary myocardial cells of chick embryos was tested. Eggs collected from Mn-depleted Arbor Acres laying breeder hens were incubated for 10 days and then myocardial cells were isolated and cultivated for 8 days. The embryonic myocardial cells on day 6 were treated with Mn in the cell culture medium at different time points when the proportion of cells showing spontaneous contraction was over 95% after the 3-day primary culture. A completely randomized design involving a 3 Mn levels（0, 0.5 and 1.0 mmol L^（-1））×3 incubation time points（12, 24 and 48 h） factorial arrangement of treatments（n=6） was used in the current experiment. The results showed that MnSOD activity and m RNA expression level were induced by Mn and increased with incubation time, which supported the hypothesis that Mn would enhance the expression of the MnSOD gene, and thus might protect myocardial cells from oxidative stress during the chick embryonic development.

Embryo culture is an efficient way to conserve a medicinally important endangered forest tree species Strychnos potatorum

The present study reports a protocol for germination of Strychnos potatorum （ver. Tel. Chilla） using zygotic embryo culture as an embryo rescue method. A 100% germination rate was obtained by culturing the embryos on full-strength Murashige and Skoog＇s medium （MS） containing 20 g/L sucrose in comparison to McCown and Lloyd＇s Woody Plant Medium （WPM）. Germination rates decreased when the sucrose concentration was lower or higher than 20 g·L-1 . WPM/MS medium containing glucose at levels 30, 20, 15 g·L-1 showed a smaller percentage of germination and at quarter strength, WPM/MS medium with glucose did not respond. Multiple shoot formation was found at 1.0 2.0 mg/L BAP; 3.0 mg/L Kn; 2.0 mg/L TDZ on MS medium with 20 g·L-1 sucrose. Germination rates improved when the embryos were placed upright （vertically） in the medium. The in vitro germinated seedlings were acclimatized in a walk-in-chamber and maintained in the green house with the survival rate of 65% 75%. These plants were transferred to the field and were found to be phenotypically normal, healthy and similar to donor plants. This protocol will be useful to overcome seed dormancy and for rapid multiplication and conservation of S. potatorum using zygotic embryo culture.

Production of early monozygotic twin bovine embryos in vitro by the blastomere separation and coculture technique

The objective of this study was to establish an efficient system of producing early monozygotic twin bovine embryos in vitro using the blastomere separation and coculture technique. In this study, early eight-cell embryos were chosen to optimize the separation method, and multi-coculture tactics were applied to improve the efficiency of this production system. Bovine embryo blastomeres（groups of at least 30 at the eight-cell stage） were separated into eight segments（to regard an eight-cell embryo as a tangerine, a blastomere as one segment） and one, two and four segments（blastomeres） were cultured respectively in microwells on the bottom of the four-well dish（Nunc, Denmark） with 400 μL of culture medium under paraffin oil. Four different types of coculture tactics（cocultured with nothing, intact embryos, bovine cumulus cells（b CCs）, intact embryos ＆ b CCs） were applied to the group of four segments（blastomeres）. Finally, diameter and inner cell mass（ICM）：trophectoderm（TE） cell ratio was measured as a criterion to assess the quality of the twin embryos which were derived from bovine separated blastomeres. Our results showed that rate of blastocyst formation of the four segments group was significantly greater than one or two group（P〈0.05）. In addition, rate of blastocyst formation was significantly increased when the four segments were cocultured with intact embryo ＆ b CCs（P〈0.05）. Although the ICM, TE and total cells of blastocysts derived from separated blastomeres was less than the control group from intact embryo（P〈0.05）, more important quality indicator of the blastocyst diameter and ICM：TE cell ratio was similar between our experimental group and the control group（P〉0.05）. Thus, these results suggest that combined with intact embryos ＆ b CCs coculture system, culturing four isolated segments（blastomeres） per microwell is an efficient system of producing early monozygotic twin bovine embryos. Furthermore, our results also indicate that the quality of blastocysts derived from separated blastomere may be similar to those derived from intact eight-cell embryos.

Studies on Immature Embryo Culture In vitro in Wheat： Genetic stability analysis of somatic variation in main agronomic chara

The genetic stability of variations of main agronomic characteristics in progenies from the regenerated plants of immature embryo culture in vitro was studied. The results showed that the variations of earliness in maturity, high 1000-grain weight, plant height and grain weight per spike were heritable and tended to be stable in IE3 and completely stable in IE4 The wide variation of main agronomic characteristics induced by embryo culture in vitro provided the probability of selection in wheat improvement. Some somaclonal lines with useful variations could be used directly in wheat production.

Cytological Correlation Between Flower and Vegetative Shoot Development from Immature Embryo-Derived Calli in Wheat

In this paper, the traits of immature embryo culture from 45 genotypes of bread wheat were investigated in detail, and trait correlation analysis in combination with histomorphological examination was used to study the cytological origin of flower as well as the correlation between it and vegetative shoot development from the calli. The rate of floral development in the subculture was highly significantly and positively related to that of the differentiation culture, which reveals that the genetic system of floral development from immature embryo-derived calli in wheat was highly correspondent and stable. The rate of floral development was related neither to the traits in the dedifferentiation culture, nor to the vegetative shoot formation from the total induced calli, but significantly and positively related to that of the calli without leaf-like green spots in the differentiation culture. These findings indicate the partial correlation as well as differentiation between flower and vegetative shoot development. The floral development might only be associated with the genetic system controlling organ regeneration, while vegetative shoots formed from the two ways, including somatic embryogenesis and organ regeneration.

Early embryonic development and transplantation in tree shrews

As a novel experimental animal model, tree shrews have received increasing attention in recent years. Despite this, little is known in regards to the time phases of their embryonic development. In this study, surveillance systems were used to record the behavior and timing of copulations; embryos at different post-copulation stages were collected and cultured in vitro; and the developmental characteristics of both early-stage and in vitro cultured embryos were determined. A total of 163 females were collected following effective copulation, and 150 were used in either unilateral or bilateral oviduct embryo collections, with 307 embryos from 111 females obtained （conception rate=74%）. Among them, 237 embryos were collected from 78 females, bilaterally, i.e., the average embryo number per female was 3.04; 172 fertilized eggs collected from 55 females, bilaterally, were cultured for 24-108 h in vitro for developmental observations; finally, 65 embryos from 23 bilateral cases and 70 embryos from 33 unilateral cases were used in embryo transplantation.

Studies on Factors Affecting the in vitro Germination and Growth of Taxus cuspidata Embryos

Factors affecting the in vitro germination and growth of Taxus cuspidata embryos were examined. DCR medium was the best among 6 basal media tested; embryos from stage II seeds were the optimal developmental stage for in vitro germination; as the seeds approached maturity, germinability of embryos decrease. Embryos cultured in darkness tended to form callus and decrease the frequency of germination; inoculation method obviously affected frequency of embryo germination. Embryos cultured in optimal conditions developed into seedlings in 2 months.

Propagation Techniques of Ewes at Early Age

The integration of hormone induction of young ewes,live oocyte collection,in-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer( JIVET),as a major breakthrough in livestock breeding technology,not only solves the problem of low oocytes obtained from adult ewes by hormone induction in production practice,but also significantly improves production efficiency. This technology can reduce the generation interval of cattle and sheep and speed up the acquisition of genes in genetic breeding. The application of this technology can help accelerate the cultivation process,shorten the generation interval,promote the industrialization and improve the economic benefits of beef cattle breed. This paper provides a reference for the research and application of new breeding and propagation techniques of beef cattle.

Cross Breeding of Populus and Its Hybrids for Cold Resistance

Populus tomentosa was crossed with P.tremuloidis, P.grandidentata, P.alba×P.grandidentata and P.alba×Ulmuspumila in order to maintain its rapid growth and high wood quality and improve its resistance to cold. Two methods were used to increase the germination rate from 1.5% to 41.1% and the remaining rate from 1.7% to 44.2%. Forty crossing combinations were conducted and 2744 hybrid seedlings were obtained. MX4×P.grandidentata （G-1-58）, MX3×P.tremuloidis （T-44-60）, MX2×P.tremuloidis （1-13-87-37） and MX2×（P.alba×P.grandidentata） were regarded as superior combinations after analysis and selection. Thirty seedlings of these combinations and 11 triploid seedlings identified by counting their chromosomes were selected as super plants.

Collection of superovulated mouse oocytes continuously by surgery and their development after activation

Objective:To establish a new way to collect superovulated oocytes or zygotes repeatedlyfrom an individual mouse.Methods:Superovulations were induced by injection PMSG and hCG in Kunming strainmice.The ampullaes of oviduct of all anaesthetised mouse were put in a specially designed'U'sink and released.The second and third times of PMSG injection were made on the sixth day andeleventh day after the first superovulation injection.The capacity of development was examinedby in vitro culture of parthenogenesis activation oocytes.Results:Development to blastocyst stage was not significantly different between the first andsecond time collection.The percentage of blastocyst stage in CD and Sr^(++) treatment was signifi-cantly higher(P<0.05)than the oocytes treated in CB and Sr^(++).Conclusion:This method enables us to collect oocytes or zygotes repeatedly from one individ-ual mouse in an interval as short as 5 days and without influence on the quality of oocytes.

Character of cell-free genomic DNA in embryo culture medium and the prospect of its clinical application in preimplantation genetic testing

There is increasing evidence that cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in spent culture media (SCM) can be amplified for genetic testing. Therefore, this paper reviews the characteristics of cfDNA, including its fragment size, amount, origin, as well as some factors affecting the success rate of its amplification, together to provide researchers with a more comprehensive perspective on embryonic cfDNA. The origin of cfDNA in SCM is complicated and poses challenges to the interpretation of genetic test results. Advanced molecular techniques should distinguish between embryonic and contaminated DNA to maximize the success rate of amplification and analysis. Recent data showed that the type of culture medium, assisted hatching or not, the type of amplification kit, and fresh or thawed embryos were not related to the success rate of amplification, but the length of culture time might affect the success rate. The longer culture time, the more cfDNA is available in the SCM. Then we focused on the concordance between trophectoderm (TE), inner cell mass, whole embryo, and embryonic cfDNA. Despite successful amplification, the concordance between TE and embryonic cfDNA was low. In summary, non-invasive genetic testing using SCM could represent a major advance in future single embryo selection, however, contamination and timing for media collection are key factors affecting the results, and current non-invasive cfDNA testing should not be directly applied to clinical practice. Further research is needed to improve the methods used for testing techniques and genetic analysis to achieve greater accuracy and trace its origins before it can be used in the clinics.

The Application of Somaclonal Variation in Early Maturity,High Yield and High Quality Improvement in Wheat

Yield characters, maturity and grain protein content of somaclones derived both from immature embryo of cultivar 77(2)-Spring and single-cell culture of cultivar NE7742 in vitro were studied and the wide variation was found. Somaclones with maturity 8 days earlier than or the same as CK NE 7742 (high yield, early maturity and high quality), combining with high quality (grain protein content 15.5% - 18%) and high yield (the same as 7724 or higher) have been found and selected and now multiplied for 8 generations. The results of cultivar comparison trial in 1995 showed that several somaclones (the yields were significantly higher than CK DN120) could be used directly in wheat production. The studies confirmed that somaclonal variation is one of the effective ways for early maturity, high-yielding and high-quality improvement in wheat.