Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate the fertilizing ability of round spematids isolated from seminiferous tubules. A round spermatid was introduced into the perivitelline space of a mature oocyte using Leitz micromanipulators and then subjected to electrofusion. Electrofusion was induced by applying a single DC pulse of 90V with a duration of 60$\mu$sec using Model 611 Square Wave Stimulator(Phipps and Bird, U.S.A) in 0.3 M sucrose fusion medium containing 0.05mM CaCl2 and 0.1mM MgSO4, Oocyte pre-activation was conducted by exposure to a single DC(80V, 80$\mu$sec) pulse in electrofusion medium at 1 hour before electrofusion. The incidence of fusion with pre-activated oocytes(23.8%, 57/239) was higher than that with nonactivated oocytes(6.7%, 3/45). The most of electro-stimulated mouse oocytes cleaved regardless of the success or failure of fusion. Karyotyping of embryos that developed into blastocysts after exposure to the fusion pulse were performe. We found that blastocysts from the fused oocytes were diploid whereas blastocysts from the unfused oocytes were haploid. About 11.7 and 11.5% of fused and unfused oocytes were developmental potentials of fused and unfused oocytes. Therefore, these results suggest that the mouse mture oocyte can be fertilized by fusion with a round spermtid and subsequently developed normally.
