In pigs, the embryonic developmental ability after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is inferior to that resulting from in vitro fertilization (IVF). We evaluated the timing of cell division up to blastocyst formation on embryonic development after ICSI using either whole sperm (w-ICSI) or the sperm head alone (h-ICSI) and IVF as a control. At 10 h after ICSI or IVF, we selected only zygo...

Precise genome modification in large domesticated animals is desirable under many circumstances. In the past it is only possible through lengthy and burdensome cloning procedures. Here we attempted to achieve that goal through the use of the newest genome-modifying tool CRISPR/Cas9. We set out to knockin human albumin cDNA into pig Alb locus for the production of recombinant human serum albumin...

A selective system for recovery of exchanges between trans mutations at adjacent loci, l(3)S12 and rosy, is described. In addition to the expected crossover and conversion classes, two exceptional types of offspring were recovered. Triploid offspring arose as 0.01% of all zygotes; the diploid chromosome set was apparently of maternal origin. Nine tandem duplications derived from unequal exchang...

In S. cerevisiae, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecules, in spite of their high copy number, segregate as if there were a small number of heritable units. The rapid segregation of mitochondrial genomes can be analyzed using mtDNA deletion variants. These small, amplified genomes segregate preferentially from mixed zygotes relative to wild-type mtDNA. This segregation advantage is abolished by mut...

Homogeneous a and alpha unbudded yeast cells in logarithmic phase, grown in supplemented minimal medium and isolated by zonal gradient centrifugation, are used for mating. When these cells are resuspended in aerated defined medium, highly synchronous mating rapidly occurs. Within 20 min of incubation at 30 degrees early sexual pairing is evident; extensive agglutination is observed by 60 min, a...

We propose a technique for recovering the position and depth of pronuclei of human zygotes, from z-stacks acquired using Hoffman Modulation Contrast microscopy. We use Local Binary Pattern features for describing local texture, and integrate information from multiple neighboring areas of the stack, including those where the object to be detected would appear defocused; interestingly, such defoc...

Sermonti, G. (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy), Milena Bandiera, and Isabella Spada-Sermonti. New approach to the genetics of Streptomyces coelicolor. J. Bacteriol. 91:384-392. 1966.-Mixed cultures of complementary auxotrophic strains of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) were preincubated on discs of cellophane on complete medium and were then transferred onto selective media. When one st...

Two muscle differentiation programs, acetylcholinesterase and tropomyosin-containing filaments and fibrils, occur together in the same cleavage-arrested zygotes (1-celled) of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. Coexpression in such undivided but developing 'embryos' is consistent with the idea that separate elements of muscle differentiation are related at some regulatory level, perhaps through a ...

The presence of numerical chromosome abnormalities in human embryos was studied using fluorescence in-situ hybridization with four or more chromosome-specific probes. When most cells of an embryo are analysed, this technique allows differentiation to be made between aneuploidy, mosaicism, haploidy and polyploidy. Abnormal types of fertilization, such as unipronucleated, tripronucleated zygotes ...

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) system is an adaptive immune system in bacteria and archaea that has recently been exploited for genome engineering. Mutant mice can be generated in one step through direct delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 components into a mouse zygote. Although the technology is robust, delivery remains a bottlene...