• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2012

Fertilization is essential to seedling production in nursery culture, but excessive fertilization can contaminate surface and ground water around the nursery. The objective of this study was to find optimal fertilization practice of container seedling production for reducing soil and water contamination around the nursery without compromising seedling quality. This study was conducted to investigate chemical properties of the growth medium, growth performance, chlorophyll fluorescence, and chlorophyll contents of larch ($Larix$ $kaempferi$) growing under three different fertilization treatments (Constant rate, Three stage rate, and Exponential rate fertilization). Root collar diameter and height of larch were not significantly different among treatments even though the nutrient supply of the exponential treatment was half that of the constant and three stage treatments. Chemical properties of the growth medium showed the same trends as root collar diameter and height. The total biomass and seedling quality index (SQI) were higher at Constant than at other treatments, but both SQI of Constant and Exponential were not significantly different. Photochemical efficiency and chlorophyll contents were lower at Exponential than at other treatments, but not significantly different among treatments. Therefore, Exponential fertilization which is 50% fertilizer of other treatments would maximize seedling growth and minimize nutrient loss.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.223-227
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• 2007

This study was carried out to establish the reasonable level of nitrogen (N) fertilization based on soil nitrate nitrogen $(NO_3-N)$ content for cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) under plastic film house. Cucumber plants were cultivated with standard and free N fertilization in eight soils which had various amount of $NO_3-N$ ranging from 67 to 343 mg/kg. The yield of cucumber was in the range of 1006 to 2369 g/plant depending on the nitrogen supplying capability of soils. The amount of $NO_3-N$ in the soil was negatively correlated with agronomic efficiency (AE) and N use efficiency (NUE). The critical level of soil $NO_3-N$ content for cucumber in N free fertilization was found to be about 260 mg/kg in Cate-Nelson analysis of variance between soil $NO_3-N$ and AE or NUE. Also the same critical soil $NO_3-N$ content was found in the yield and amount of N uptake of cucumber under N free fertilization. A standard N fertilization was required when soil $NO_3-N$ content was below 70 mg/kg. The optimal application rate of N fertilizer for cucumber in the soils containing $NO_3-N$ between 260-70 mg/kg could be recommended by the equation Y=-1.032X+269.2 (Y: N fertilization rate, kg/ha; X : soil $NO_3-N$ content mg/kg).

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.206-211
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• 1996

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of medium and cumulus cell on in vitro fertilization of porcine follicular oocytes. The results obtained are as follows ; 1. The normal fertilization rates of in vitro matured follicular oocytes cultured in 00, mT ALP and TCM-HEPES medium were 14.0~24.3%, 30.8~32.7% and 21.4~23.9%, respectively. These data indicated that the optimal medium for fertilization of porcine oocytes in vitro was the mTALP medium 2. The normal fertilization rates of epididymal sperm were 24.3%(80), 30.8%(mTALP) and 23.9%(TCM-HEPES), and those of ejaculated sperm were 14.0%(B0), 32.7%(mTALP) and 21.4%(TCM-HEPES). 3. The sperm penetration rates of cumulus-enclosed and cumulus-free oocytes on in vitro fertilization were 54.0% and 72.0%. The normal fertilization rates of cumulus-enclosed and cumulus-free oocytes were 11.9% and 21.5%. The normal fertilization rate of cumulus-enclosed oocytes was significantly(P<0.05) higher than that of cumulus-free oocytes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.100 no.2
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• pp.305-313
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• 2011

Fertilization is essential to seedling production in nursery culture, but excessive fertilization can contaminate surface and ground water around the nursery. The objective of this study was to find optimal fertilization practice of container seedling production for reducing soil and water contamination around the nursery without compromising seedling quality. This study was conducted to investigate growth performance, photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, and chlorophyll contents of Liriodendron tulipifera growing under three different fertilization treatments (Constant rate, Three-stage rate, and Exponential rate fertilization). Root collar diameter, height, and biomass of L. tulipifera were the highest at Constant treatment. Like growth performance, seedling quality index (SQI) were higher at Constant than at other treatments, but not significantly different among treatments. L. tulipifera showed good photosynthetic capacity at all treatments. Photochemical efficiency and chlorophyll contents were significantly lower at Exponential than at other treatments. Therefore, Exponential fertilization which is 50% fertilizer of other treatments would maximize seedling growth and minimize nutrient loss.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 1998

The effect of oxygen tension on embryonic development in co-culture was evaluated from the standpoint of the reduction of dissolved oxygen concentration by the oxygen consumption of feeder cells. Three co-culture systems using bovine oviductal epitherial cells (BOEC), African green monkey kidney cells (Vero cells) or buffalo rat liver cells (BRLC) have been compared in terms of development of bovine embryos derived from oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro. Among the co-cultured embryo, Vero cells su, pp.rted the highest developmental rate (29%) and the other two showed the similar rates. When the co-cultures were incubated in three different oxygen tension such as 5, 10, 20% oxygen atmosphere, embryos co-cultured with Vero cells at 10%-O2 resulted in the highest percentage of development. From the measurement of oxygen consumption of feeder cells, BRLC consumed 1.38　10-10 mg-O2/min/cell which was higher than 0.94　10-10 and 0.26　10-10mg-O2/min/cell for Vero cells and BOEC, respectively. Based on the oxygen consumption data, the phenomena of optimum oxygen tension required in embryo development in vitro has been analyzed, and we suggested that gas phase oxygen concentration, oxygen consumption rate of feeder cells and the number of feeder cells should be considered for the design of optimal co-culture system for effective fertilization of embryos in vitro.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.105 no.2
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• pp.177-185
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• 2016

Fertilization is required to keep the balance of tissue nutrients and to produce high quality seedlings at the permanent nursery. This study was conducted to verify the optimum fertilization method for Fraxinus rhynchophylla, F. mandshurica, Pinus koraiensis, and Abies holophylla seedlings with vector diagnosis method. Seven treatments include nitrogen (N, $13.8g{\cdot}m^{-2}$), phosphorus (P, $6.1g{\cdot}m^{-2}$), potassium ($7.5g{\cdot}m^{-2}$) fertilization and 1x (N $6.9g{\cdot}m^{-2}$, P $3.05g{\cdot}m^{-2}$, K $3.65g{\cdot}m^{-2}$), 2x (twice of 1x), 4x (four times of 1x) fertilization and no fertilization. Soil pH decreased as fertilization increased. Nitrogen and NPK fertilization decreased exchangeable $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ concentrations. Height and root collar diameter of F. rhynchophylla and F. mandshurica significantly increased with N and NPK fertilization, but those of P. koraiensis and A. holophylla did not. The biomass of F. rhynchophylla and F. mandshurica was about twice higher at NPK fertilization compared to the control. The responses of vector diagnosis were different by tree species and fertilization treatment: F. rhynchophylla was in the status of N "dilution", which means the N concentration decreases with N content. Phosphorus and K were "sufficiency" state with 4x fertilization. F. mandshurica showed "retranslocation" as N content decreased without change of dry weight at N, P, K fertilization, but "dilution" state at NPK fertilization. This result suggested that optimal fertilization was required for F. rhynchophylla and F. mandshurica in seedling production stage, but was not essential for P. koraiensis and A. holophylla.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.237-243
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of caffeine and sodium bicarbonate in a fertilization medium on the fertilizability of boar spermatozoa that were frozen in straws. Boar spermatozoa were extended with Beltsville F5 extender and frozen in 0.25-ml straws. In vitro matured porcine oocytes were fertilized in vitro (IVF) with frozen-thawed boar spermatozoa for 6h in a modified tris-buffered medium (mTBM) or in its modified medium by substituting the tris with 25mM sodium bicarbonate (modified bicarbonate-buffered medium; mBBM). Some of inseminated oocytes were fixed and stained for examination of sperm penetration. IVF embryos were cultured in a North Carolina State University-23 medium for embryo development. The percentage of live sperm was $47{\pm}4%$ and morphological abnormality of acrosome was found in $14{\pm}3%$ of spermatozoa. Optimal sperm concentration for IVF was $0.75{\sim}1.0{\times}1.0{\times}10^6$ sperms/ml when mTBM containing 5mM caffeine was used as the fertilization medium. Sperm penetration was significantly (p<0.05) stimulated by increasing caffeine concentration in the IVF medium. In addition, mBBM significantly (p<0.05) increased sperm penetration (92%) compared to mTBM (65%). More (p<0.05) blastocysts (22% vs. 32%) developed from the oocytes that were fertilized in mBBM containing 1mM caffeine than from those fertilized in mTBM with 5mM caffeine. Our results indicate that boar spermatozoa can be frozen successfully in straws with holding their normal fertilizability and that caffeine and sodium bicarbonate stimulates sperm penetration in vitro.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.151-156
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• 1991

Bovine in vitro fertilization experiment was carried out using ovary-derived follicular oocytes and frozen-thawed spermatozoa to determine the optimal preincubation time of spermatozoa and the insemination time for successful in vitro fertilization rate. The possibility of parthenogenetic cell division of unfertilized oocytes during culture without spermatozoa was also examined. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in percent ratio of embryos developed to blastocyst stage between 0 and 3 h preincubation times of spermatozoa, showing a tendency to have higher percentage for 0 h of preincubation time. The 6 h insemination time seemed to be better for producing higher percentage of ova cleavage compared with those of 1 and 3 h treatments. Approximately 10% of unfertilized oocytes divided into 2 to 4-cell stage, and some of them cleaved to 5 up to 8-cells. The results obtained from this study suggested that 0 h of sperm preincubation time and 6 h of insemination time would be suitable for producing better in vitro fertilization rate of bovine oocytes. It is also likely that unfertilized bovine oocytes probably cleave to some cell stages with irregular divisions of the cells. On the one hand, considerable variation was also found in spermatozoa function among individual bulls.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2015

Objective: Sperm must be properly prepared in in vitro fertilization (IVF)-embryo transfer (ET) programs in order to control the fertilization rate and ensure that embryos are of high quality and have appropriate developmental abilities. The objective of this study was to determine the most optimal sperm preparation method for IVF. Methods: Patients less than 40 years of age who participated in a fresh IVF-ET cycle from November 2012 to March 2013 were included in this study. Poor responders with less than three mature oocytes were excluded. Ham's F-10 medium or sperm-washing medium (SWM) was used in combination with the density-gradient centrifugation/swim-up (DGC-SUP) or SUP methods for sperm preparation. A total of 429 fresh IVF-ET cycles were grouped according to the media and methods used for sperm preparation and retrospectively analyzed (DGC-SUP/Ham's F-10, n=82; DGC-SUP/SWM, n=43; SUP/Ham's F-10, n=181; SUP/SWM, n=123). Results: There were no significant differences among these four groups with respect to the mean age of the female partners, duration of infertility, number of previous IVF cycles, and retrieved oocytes. We determined that both the DGC-SUP and SUP methods for sperm preparation from whole semen, using either Ham's F-10 or SWM media, result in comparable clinical outcomes, including fertilization and pregnancy rates. Conclusion: We suggest that both media and both methods for sperm preparation can be used for selecting high-quality sperm for assistive reproductive technology programs.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.221-226
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• 2020

Objective: We attempted to identify the optimal cutoff numbers of mature oocytes that would produce at least one or multiple top-quality (grade A) day-3 embryos in normal responders undergoing stimulated in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. Methods: We selected 210 fresh IVF cycles performed in 170 infertile women at a single center from January 2014 to November 2019. Four to 14 (total) oocytes were obtained in all cycles after conventional ovarian stimulation. A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to find the moderate and extreme cutoff numbers of mature oocytes that would produce ≥ 1, ≥ 2, ≥ 3, ≥ 4, and ≥ 5 top-quality embryos. Results: The cutoff number of mature oocytes was significantly correlated with the number of top-quality embryos (r = 0.467, p= 0.000). The moderate cutoff number of mature oocytes was ≥ 3, ≥ 5, ≥ 5, ≥ 6, and ≥ 6 for obtaining ≥ 1, ≥ 2, ≥ 3, ≥ 4, and ≥ 5 top-quality embryos, respectively. The extreme cutoff number of mature oocytes was ≥ 9, ≥ 9, ≥ 10, ≥ 10, and ≥ 11 for obtaining ≥ 1, ≥ 2, ≥ 3, ≥ 4, and ≥ 5 top-quality embryos, respectively. Conclusion: We present the optimal cutoff numbers of mature oocytes that would yield ≥ 1, ≥ 2, ≥ 3, ≥ 4, and ≥ 5 top-quality embryos with 95% specificity. Our findings could help infertility clinicians to set target mature oocyte numbers in women undergoing stimulated IVF cycles.