The number of sperm incorporated into eggs made polyspermic with varying concentrations of nicotine (0.025-0.25%, v/v) appears to be directly related to the concentrations employed. The cortical response is morphologically equivalent to that observed in control preparations. Shortly after their incorporation all of the spermatozoa undergo structural events normally associated with the developme...

Sexual and asexual lines of the unicellular chlorophyte Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were propagated for about 100 sexual cycles and 1000 vegetative cycles in contrasted environments, liquid and solid growth media, in order to generate divergent natural and sexual selection. Sexual lines were transferred by many zygotes or by a single zygote in each sexual generation. By the end of the experiment ...

Sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) radiation (UV-A, lambda = 315-400 nm; plus UV-B, lambda = 280-315 nm) of zygotes of the brown alga Fucus serratus L. (Phaeophyta) has been assessed through effects on growth of developing germlings. Different stages of development were distinguished by considering 5 h periods of time after fertilisation. Both the stage of the zygote and the UV radiation condition...

BACKGROUND Many factors from the oocyte/sperm or the process of fertilization may affect the zygote formation. The zygote score (Z-score) describes the quality of a human zygote based on its pronuclear morphology, nucleolar precursor bodies, and alignment of polar bodies, and it can be used in the selection process at the zygote stage for embryo transfer or cryopreservation. OBJECTIVE The aim...

The large, compactoocytenucleoli, sometimes referred toasnucleolus precursor bodies (NPBs), are essential for embryonic development in mammals; in their absence, the oocytes complete maturation and can be fertilized, but no nucleoli are formed in the zygote or embryo, leading to developmental failure. It has been convincingly documented that zygotes inherit the oocyte nucleolarmaterial and form...

BACKGROUND Embryo quality may be accurately assessed as early as the pronuclear zygote phase, as shown in recent studies. However, it is not known whether good quality zygotes are destined to become good quality cleavage stage embryos and blastocysts. METHODS In this retrospective study, 86 intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer cycles were studied where each available embryo was sc...

Sexual reproduction in Chlamydomonas monoica is homothallic: pair formation and cell fusion occur in clonal culture and give rise to a heavily walled diploid zygospore. During maturation of the young zygote, a distinctive "primary zygote wall" is released before the development of the highly reticulate zygospore wall. Using ethyl methanesulfonate and ultraviolet irradiation as mutagens, we have...

Parker, Baker & Smith (1972) have demonstrated mathematically that given the evolution of sexual reproduction, disruptive selection for the production of either many small gametes or a few large gametes may occur, resulting in a stable polymorphism of “sperm” and “egg” producers. Their model for the evolution of anisogamy requires only that zygote fitness (F) increase steeply with increases in ...