Like the human female, the mare experiences reproductive tract pathology that may sometimes be circumvented by the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). One such technology, gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), may be used in mares that exhibit ovulatory, oviductal, or uterine abnormalities that limit the use of common ARTs, such as embryo transfer. Homologous GIFT has been succes...

The cellular slime mold, Dictyostelium mucoroides-7 (Dm7) exhibits clear dimorphism; macrocyst formation as a sexual process and sorocap formation as an asexual process. These two life cycles are regulated by two regulators, ethylene and cyclic AMP (cAMP). This is the first report demonstrating a novel function of ethylene at the cellular level. That is, ethylene induces a zygote formed by cell...

This paper presents the design and microfabrication of a vacuum-based cell holding device for single-cell immobilization and the use of the device in mouse zygote microinjection. The device contains many through-holes, constructed via two-sided glass wet etching and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-glass bonding. Experimental results of mouse zygote immobilization and microinjection demonstrate that...

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) act on genital systems and may affect female and male reproductive functions in three different ways, through the obstruction of either male or female reproductive ducts, a significant contribution to perinatal morbidity, mortality, and pregnancy wastage [1]. Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis are known as sexually transmitted agents. Although U. ...

The Center for Reproductive Health was a fertility clinic run by a partnership of worldrenowned fertility specialists from 1986 to 1995. The Center operated at three clinic locations under affiliation with the University of California Irvine?s Medical Center (UCIMC). The Center?s renowned specialists and medical success stories attracted clients worldwide until evidence of highly unethical prac...

The Sox family plays essential roles as transcription factors in vertebrates; however, little is known about the Lutraria sieboldii. L. sieboldii are pleasant to eat with a short growth cycle and have become one of best bottom-seeded enrichment species Guang Xi. In this study, Sox2 (named LsSox2) Sox9 LsSox9) from were cloned, their expression patterns analyzed. length LsSox2 gene coding sequen...

To understand whether fusions of thylakoid membranes from the parental chloroplasts occurred during zygote formation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, we performed an ultrastructural analysis of the zygotes produced by crossing mutants lacking photosystem I or II protein complexes, in the absence of de novo chloroplast protein synthesis. Thylakoid membranes from each parent could be distinguished o...

The placenta contains several types of feto-maternal interfaces where zygote-derived cells interact with maternal cells or maternal blood for the promotion of fetal growth and viability. The genetic factors regulating the interactions between different cell types within feto-maternal interfaces and the relative contributions of the maternal and zygotic genomes are poorly understood. Genomic imp...