BACKGROUND The first clues to the process of gamete activation date back to nearly 60 years ago. The mutual activation of gametes is a crucial event during fertilization. In the testis and ovaries, spermatozoa and oocytes are in a state of meiotic and metabolic quiescence and require reciprocal signals in order to undergo functional changes that lead to competence for fertilization. First, the ...

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) imaging has been used for the direct analysis of single intact Xenopus laevis embryo surfaces, locating multiple lipids during fertilization and the early embryo development stages with subcellular lateral resolution (∼4 μm). The method avoids the complicated sample preparation for lipid analysis of the embryos, which requires selective ...

Our recent studies have described for the first time the purification of an ectoprotein kinase to apparent homogeneity using caprine sperm as the model. Purified ectokinase (CIK) is a novel membrane protein-specific kinase that phosphorylates serine and threonine residues of ectophosphoproteins. This study, using ELISA based on ecto-CIK antibody demonstrates that ecto-CIK level is remarkably hi...

Assisted reproductive techniques (gamete cryopreservation, artificial insemination, embryo transfer, and in vitro fertilization) allow to propagate small fragmented populations of wild endangered species or domestic breeds. There are the best way for producing several offspring from selected genitors in order to avoid inbreeding depression. However, few mammalian species have been well studied ...

Posthumous gamete (sperm or oocyte) procurement and reproduction are ethically justifiable if written documentation from the deceased authorizing the procedure is available. In the absence of written documentation from the decedent, programs open to considering requests for posthumous gamete procurement or reproduction should only do so when such requests are initiated by the surviving spouse o...

The genus Fucus dominates the intertidal and shallow subtidal rocky reefs of North Atlantic also is commonly found in Pacific. It likely diversified 12.2-2.7 mya into two genetically distinct lineages: Lineage 1 with one species Pacific Atlantic; 2 only (one recently introduced Pacific). With 10 accepted species, spp. (and Fucales) are unique among algae having a diplontic life cycle, whereby h...