The effects of medium supplementation with oestrous goat serum and glycoprotein hormones on caprine oocyte maturation in vitro (IVM) were evidenced by proportions of resulting ova completing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and development to the morula stage. Oocyte-cumulus complexes (OCCs) were harvested in follicular fluid from 2–5 mm diameter follicles. Oocyte maturation took place during 27 h in TCM-199 supplemented with 20% oestrous goat serum, oestradiol-17β (1.0 μg/ml), and either (a) 0.5 μg FSH/ml, (b) 100 μg LH/ml, (c) 100 μg LH + 0.5 μg FSH/ml, (d) 100 μg hCG + 0.5 μg FSH/ml, (e) 0.5 μg TSH/ml or (f) no added glycoprotein hormone (control). Of 353 immature oocytes cultured in seven experiments, 311 (88.1%) exhibited cumulus expansion at the end of the IVM interval; all normalappearing OCCs were inseminated. In vitro insemination was with ejaculated sperm treated with heparin (10 μg/ml) and caffeine (0.4 μg/ml). Proportions (%) of inseminated ova that were fertilised (cleaved) and that reached the morula stage after IVM with (a) FSH, (b) LH, (c) LH + FSH, (d) hCG + FSH, (e) TSH and (f) no added glycoprotein hormone were (a) 22/52 (42.3%) and 9/52 (17.3%), (b) 25/54 (46.3%) and 14/54 (25.9%), (c) 52/65 (80.0%) and 26/65 (40.0%), (d) 48/78 (61.5%) and 22/78 (28.2%), (e) 14/54 (25.9%) and 4/54 (7.4%), and (f) 11/50 (22.0%) and 1/50 (2.0%), respectively. All treatments yielded better results than IVM with no added glycoprotein hormone. After IVM with added LH + FSH higher proportions of oocytes were fertilised (p<0.05), and higher proportions reached the morula stage (p<0.05) when compared with other treatments.

It has been established that fertilisation in the sea urchin involves binding of acrosome-reacted sperm to an egg cell surface receptor. The structure and function of receptor, as well as the possible involvement of other cell surface molecules in the binding, fusion and activation events, is discussed.

The transformation of a zygote into an embryo adheres both to nature and to nurture: not only genetics but also environment determines the outcome. This idea has assumed many forms. A territory in the early sea urchin blastula contains clones of founder cells, and each clone contributes exclusively to one territory (Cameron & Davidson, 1991). Both the lineage of a founder cell, i.e. its nature, and the position of a founder cell, which determines how it is nurtured, contribute to its fate. Fertilisation, the topic of the first Forum, fixes the genes; interblastomere communication, the topic here, regulates gene expression. Blastomeres communicate like any other cell – via ligand-receptor interactions and through gap junctions. Saxe and DeHaan review these mechanisms. The definition of ligands and receptors becomes broadened in this context, and cell adhesions as well as gap junctions enter into the story. In spite of these entanglements, it appears that nature uses the same sorts of mechanisms to get cells to specialise that she uses to keep them talking. Thus, neurons and glial cells signal to one another via glutamate receptors and gap junctions (Nedergaard, 1994). Likewise, we expect neurotransmitters (and neurotransmitter transporters) to help signal differentiation. The biophysicist may ask whether electrical properties also play a role, but that we reserve for another Forum. If gap junctions figure in development as fusion pores that pass small molecules and electrical signals between blastomeres, another parallel suggests itself. Brian Dale asked in the first Forum: How does a spermatozoon activate an oocyte? This question, which concerns gamete communication, has produced two schools of thought and remains controversial (Shilling et al., 1994). Do sperm activate oocytes via contact-mediated mechanisms or through fusionmediated mechanisms? Or do both mechanisms occur, as they appear to in development?

During fertilisation in starfish oocytes, the fertilisation cone develops temporarily beneath the penetrating sperm. The role of the fertilisation cone in sperm incorporation in the starfish Asterias amurensis was examined using cytochalasin B (CB). CB (2 μM) allowed sperm acrosomal process–egg plasma membrane fusion and egg activation, but inhibited the development of the fertilisation cone containing actin microfilaments. When sperm were added to intact oocytes (with the jelly coat and vitelline coat) in seawater containing CB, the sperm head did not penetrate the fertilisation membrane. Although the acrosomal process fused with egg plasma membrane, the sperm head remained outside the fertilisation membrane. On the other hand, denuded oocytes without the jelly coat and vitelline coat allowed sperm penetration even in the presence of 2 μM CB. Electron microscopy revealed that sperm organelles, including the acrosomal process, nucleus, mitochondrion and tail, were incorporated into the slightly electron-dense cytoplasm, which was similar to the cytoplasm of the fertilisation cone. These results show that the development of the fertilisation cone/actin filament complex is not essential for incorporation of the sperm, since incorporation can occur in denuded oocytes. However, the cone is required for fertilisation of intact oocytes, suggesting that this actin-filament-containing structure is necessary for getting the sperm through the outer egg coats.

The heterodimeric sperm-coating protein CFS was previously localised on the middle-piece region of rat spermatozoa by anti-CFS rabbit antibodies. CFS-immunorelated antigens were detected in the secretion of the water buffalo seminal vesicle by protein electrophoresis and Western blotting. Spermatozoa from buffalo epididymal cauda were incubated with the rat antigen and, upon immunostaining with anti-CFS antibodies and goat anti-rabbit fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated IgGs, CFS was found attached on both the post-acrosomal region and the tail. Indirect immunofluorescence analysis permitted the localisation of CFS-related antigens on the same domains of buffalo ejaculated spermatozoa. These results suggest that the buffalo antigens not only share some epitopes with the homologous rat antigen but may also have some of its functional properties. Ejaculated spermatozoa were capacitated in vitro and then assayed for their content of CFS-like antigens. An inverse relationship was found between the levels of capacitation and the amounts of antigens detected, thus suggesting that the in vitro treatment was effective at removing CFS-related proteins from the cell surface. Titration of these proteins to proteins to monitor plasma membrane changes during sperm manipulation or to evaluate sperm quality is proposed.

The present study was designed to examine the ability of bovine oocytes, after germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), to be activated by sperm penetration and the sequence of sperm nuclear transformation. Bovine oovytes cultured for 8 h in maturation medium (tissue culture medium TCM-199 containing 10% fetal calf serum) were inseminated in Brackett and Oilphant's medium supplemented with bovine serum albumin (10 mg/ml), caffeine (5mM) and heparin (10 μg/ml). When oocytes were transferrred to the maturation medium 8 h after insemination and additionally cultured for 5−40 h at 39°C in 5% CO2 in air, 71−76% of oocytes were penetrated and polyspermy (67–75%) was common. The proportions of penetrated oocytes that were activated significantly increased with the lapse of the additional culture time, reaching 88% and 87% by 25 and 40 h after additional culture, respectively. When compared with unpenetrated oocytes, signifcantly higher proportions of penetrated oocytes, reached metaphase II or beyond 15 and 25 h after additional culture. After penetration, sperm nuclei were transformed into metaphase chromosomes and then to telophase chromomes before the formation of male pronuclei. These results provide evidence that bovine oocytes acquire the ability to respond to sperm-mediated activation soon after GVBD.

During the past decade growing evidence has suggested that cell-cell communication via gap junctions is crucial for early developmental processes (Warner et al., 1984; Guthrie & Gilula, 1989; Serras et al., 1989). It has been shown that embryos of mice (Kalimi & Lo, 1988), teleosts (Kimmel et al., 1984), insects (Warner & Lawrence, 1982; Ruangvoravat & Lo, 1992) and molluscs (Serras et al., 1989) become regionally organized into restricted domains of junctionally connected cells that share developmental potential. In the mouse gastrula, for example, dye-coupling experiments have demonstrated that cells within a developmental compartment have a high degree of coupling whereas cells across compartmental boundaries have reduced coupling (Kalimi & Lo, 1988). Classic experiments (Townes & Holtfretter, 1955; Steinberg, 1963) demonstrated that as cells begin to differentiate along common pathways, they develop selective adhesion properties and the ability to sort themselves from unlike neighbours (for review see Edelman 1988; Edelman et al., 1990). More recently a multitude of specific cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) have been identified that mediate these processes and trigger the cytoplasmic events that drive further differentiation (Edelman et al., 1990; Albelda, 1991; Geiger & Ayalon, 1992).

We have used rhodamine-conjugated phalloidin and confocal microscopy to examine the organisation of filamentous actin (F-actin) during oogenesis in Xenopus laevis. F-actin was restricted to a thin shell in the cortex of oogonia and post-mitotic oocytes less than 35 μm in diameter. In oocytes with diameters of 35–50 μm F-actin was observed in three cellular domains: in the cortex, in the germinal vesicle (GV) and in a network of cytoplasmic cables. Initially, actin cables were sparsely distributed in the cytoplasm, with no evidence of discrete organising centres. In larger stage I oocytes, a dense network of actin cables extended throughout the cytoplasm, linking the GV and mitochondrial mass to the cortical actin shell. Apart from the F-actin associated with the mitochondrial mass, no evidence of a polarised distribution of F-actin was apparent in stage I oocytes. F-actin was observed also in the cortex and the GV of stage VI oocytes, and a network of cytoplasmic cables surrounded the GV. Cytoplasmic actin cables extended from the GV to the animal cortex, and formed a three-dimensional network surrounding clusters of yolk platelets in the vegetal cytoplasm. Finally, disruption of F-actin in stage VI oocytes with cytochalasin resulted in distortion and apparent rotation of the GV in the animal hemisphere, suggesting that actin plays a role in maintaining the polarised organisation of amphibian oocytes.

Oocyte fusion induced by inactivated Sendai virus results in the production of ‘zygotes’that are able to undergo the first stages of embryonic development. The oocyte fusion products (OFP) obtained follow a morphological developmental pattern equivalent to that of control embryos, at least up to the 8-cell stage. The percentage of OFP that reach the 8-cell stage is extremely low(3%)compared with control embryos cultured in vitro(95%). On light microscopy, the OFP obtained show morphological characteristics identical to control embryos, although their cell diameters are larger. The cortical reaction, meiotic reactivation, extrusion of second polar bodies and pronucleus formation take place as observed in controls. The ultrastructural characteristics of oocyte fusion products at the 1-2-4- and 8- cell stages are analogous to those of controls, including the presence of structures related to the activation of the embryo genome. However some differences concerning cell ultrastructure, mainly in the nucleus, are observed and discussed in the text.

It has been shown previously that, in Drosophila oogenesis, potassium ions are important for bioelectric phenomena as well as for other physiological and development processes. In the present study we determined the spatial distribution and activity of the (Na+, K+)-pump and of ouabain-insensitive K+ pumps in plasma membranes of vitellogenic ovarian follicles (stage 10). We used that light micorscopic anthroylouabain method as well as the cytochemical lead and cerium precipitation methods in combination with electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) and elelctronm energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). (Na+, K+)-ATPase activity was predominantly observed on the oolemma as well as on the membranes of the columnar follicle cells covering the oocyte, whereas on the membranes of the nurse cells and of the squamous follicle cells covering the nurse cells the activity was vary low. The highset activity of the (Na+ K+)-pump was found at the anterior and posterior ends of the oocute, and this on the oolemma as well as on the membranes of the follicle cells located here. Strong activity of ouabain-insensitive K+-pumps was observed on most of the oolemma (except at the anterior of the oocyte) and on the membranes of some nurse cells located next to the oocyte, whereas less activity was found on the other nurse cell membranes and on the membranes of all follicle cells. The suitability of the differnet methods nurse cell membranes and on the membrances of all follicle cells. The suitability of th different methods used for determining the localisation as well as the activity of K+-pumps is discussed. We further discuss the nature of the ouabain-insensitive K+ pumps and the relevance of the observed distribution of K+-pumps for K+ uptake, extrafollicular ionic current flow intercelluar signalling and other developmental processes in Drosophila oogenesis.

Global activation of the embryonic genome occurs at the 4– to 8–cell stage in human embryos and is marked by continuation of early cleavage divisions in the presence of transcriptional inhibitors. Here we demonstrate, using recerse transcripase–polymerase chin reaction (Rt–PCR), the presence of transcripts for wo paternal Y chromosomal genes, ZFY and SRY in human preimplantation embryos. ZFY transcripts were detected as early as the pronucleate stage, 20–24 h post-insemination In vitro and at intermediate stages up to the blastocyst stage. SRY Transcripts were also detected at 2–cell to blastocyos observed in many mammalian species focuses attention on the role of events in six determination prior to gonad differentiation.

Artificial fertilisation was attempted in maize by microinjecting sperm nuclei into the egg cell or central cell of isolated embryo sacs. A protocol for isolation of nuclei from pollen grains was developed and a pure fraction of sperm nuclei was obtained after centrifugation on a Percoll gradient. The in vitro transcriptional activity of the nuclei was tested by incorporation of radioactive UTP into RNA. The level of labelled nucleotide incorporation increased and reached a maximum after between 30 and 40 min in the incubation medium. The embryo sacs were enzymatically isolated and their viability determined by observation of cytoplasmic streaming in the female cells. The embryo sacs were immobilised by embedding in low-melting-point agarose and a single male nucleus was injected with a bevelled microcapillary. The presence of the injected nucleus in the egg or central cell was demonstrated using a cytological approach. This paper presents an alternative method for studying the intimate processes of fertilisation in plants.

We present evidence for the fusion of isolated single maize egg and sperm cell protoplasts in a mannitol solution (400–430 mosmol/kg H2O) containing 0.05 M CaCl2 at pH 11.0, followed by cell division of the fusion products. These findings allow the performance of in vitro fertilisation of higher plants by combining single gametes as in lower plant and animal systems. Further, our findings open new avenues for investigating the basic mechanisms of adhesion and fusion of higher plant gametes and eventually for examining processes that inhibit polyspermy in higher plants.

The morphology of the acrosome of spermatozoa an Australian daysyurid marsupial during in vivo fertilisation, as seen with the tranamission electron microscope, is described. In some spermatozoa close to the outer zona surface with largely intact acrosomes, eletron-demse struts between the inner and outer acrosomal membranes could be seen; in addition fusion between the outer acrosomal and overlying plasma membranes was sometimes evident. The zona matrix close to the acrosomal region of spermatozoa with heads party embedded within the zona pellucida was less electron-dense and more filamentous than elsewhere; perhaps indicative of local lytic activety. Nevertheless some of these spermatozoa at least had partly intact acrosomes with local regions of electron-dense bridges between the two acrosomal membranes. Spermatozoa with condensed chomatin were also observed within the egg cytoplsam some of which had membranes, vacuoles or close to the dorsal nuclear surface which could, in part, be acrosomal in orgin. These observations lend some support to the recent view, based on findings from an American species, that acrosomal changes of spermatozoa of some marsupials at the of fertillsation may be somewhat similar to those of eutherian mamals in spite of the considerable differences in gamete structure and design. How generally applicable these findings are to all marsupials remains, however, to be determined.

Although much information about such processes as cell cycle control, second messenger systems, protein kinases and steroid hormone action has been collected from studies of Xenopus oocyte maturation, we still have very little idea about how the steroid hormone, progesterone, signals the resumption of meiosis from the oocyte plasma membrane. In this review we re-examine the data on second messenger systems in Xenopus oocytes and discuss some of the unresolved questions about hormone signal transduction during maturation. We outline some reasons for the contradictions in the literature and offer some suggestions for avenues of future research.

We have investigated the oolemma block to polyspermy in the mouse. Zona-free and zona-intact eggs were fertilised and subsequently re-inseminated (the latter following zona pellucida removal). The ‘perivitelline’ block to polyspermy in zona-intact eggs renders motile sperm in the perivitelline space unable to bind to the oolemma. This is not connected with irreversible changes in the egg plasma membrane, because freshly added sperm can still fuse with such eggs freed from the zona. Fertilised eggs eventually lose the ability to fuse with sperm within 1 h, while still being able to bind many sperm.

Unfertilised mouse oocytes absorbed the pH-sensitive fluoroprobe SNARF-1-AM (carboxyseminaphthorhodafluor-1-acetoxymethylester), the ester being hydrolysed by an intracellular esterase. Ratioimaging of oocytes containing the resultant SNARF-1 excited by laser light (514nm) has been obtained by scanning confocal microscopy with appropriate barrier filters to monitor emission maxima about 590 and 640 nm recorded simultaneously in separate channels of the framestore. Images produced by pixel-by-pixel division of these channel images showed uniform distribution of SNARF-1 in equatorial regions in most cells. However, in some oocytes regions (about 4 μm diameter) with smaller ratios (i.e. lower pHi) were detected. The relation between the ratio of emitted maxima and the extracellular pH (pHo) in the presence of nigericin allowed a calibration procedure to determine the intracellular pH (pHi). With this mehod pHi was estimated to be 7.13±0.05 (mean ± SEM, n = 31). Whereas the application of a weak acid (butyric) caused a fall in the ratio and hence in pHi, exposure to weak bases (NH4Cl or trimethylamine) caused a rise. Large changes in pH0. did not evoke corresponding changes in the ratio and hence in pHi. Addition of 5% CO2 to the external solution buffered at the usual value of pH 7.4, however, did cause a fall in the ratio which was reversible only when HCO3− was present in the external solution.