哺乳动物的受精

受精是单倍体配子（精子和卵子）融合产生新生命的过程,是有性生殖个体发育的起点。根据动物种类的不同,受精可以发生在体内,也可以发生在体外。它一方面恢复了染色体双倍体数目,保证了双亲的遗传作用;另一方面,受精可以把生殖细胞通过减数分裂同源重组获得遗传物质变化和个体发生过程中产生的变异遗传下去,保证了物种的遗传多样性,在生物进化上具有重要意义。     

Invitro fertilization of cow ova

Embryos were recovered from superovulated heifers and transferred non-surgically through the cervix of heifers via an ureteral catheter. The ureteral catheter was passed into the anterior portion of the uterine horn ipsilateral to the corpus luteum through a series of concentric stainless steel tubes. One morula or blastocyst was transferred to each of 95 heifers.Eighteen heifers (19%) were pregnant 55 to 60 days later. The pregnancy rate was not significantly influenced by treatment of the vagina with antibiotics before transfer; whether a morula or blastocyst was transferred; or whether ovulation occurred from the left or right ovary. There were no significant differences among the three technicians. Fifty of the 77 recipients that were not pregnant at 60 days of gestation were observed in estrus after 18–23.5 or 37–44.5 days, representing normal or double the normal estrous cycle lengths. However, 11 showed a shortened return to estrus (9–26 days), and 16 had a delayed return to estrus (25–33 or 48–55 days). We conclude that this technique results in premature luteolysis in some recipients and probably in more early embryonic death than normal.     

The signalling cascade of fertilization

The early event of fertilization-induced egg activation is a mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ that originates from the sperm entry point and spreads through the entire egg cytoplasm. Recently, this process has been established to require the sequential activation of Src family kinases, phospholipase C gamma, and inositoltrisphosphate receptor of endoplasmic reticulum. This review summarizes recent findings concerning the signalling pathway of fertilization from sperm-egg interaction to the Ca2+ release with emphasis on the role of tyrosine kinases in the egg activation.     

Environmental friendly nitrogen fertilization

With the huge intensification of agriculture and the increasing awareness to human health and natural resources sustainability, there was a shift towards the development of environmental friendly N application approaches that support sustainable use of land and sustain food production.The effectiveness of such approaches depends on their ability to synchronize plant nitrogen demand with its supply and the ability to apply favored compositions and dosages of N-species.They are also influenced by farming scale and its sophistication, and include the following key concepts: (i) Improved application modes such as split or localized ("depot") application; (ii) use of bio-amendments like nitrification and urease inhibitors and combinations of (i) and (ii); (iii) use of controlled and slow release fertilizers; (iv) Fertigation-fertilization via irrigation systems including fully automated and controlled systems; and (v) precision fertilization in large scale farming systems. The paper describes the approaches and their action mechanisms and examines their agronomic and environmental significance. The relevance of the approaches for different farming scales, levels of agronomic intensification and agro-technical sophistication is examined as well.     

Single fertilization inSpiranthes sinensis

The reproduction system inSpiranthes sinensis (Orchidaceae), collected at various localities in Japan, was revealed to be of a peculiar new type which is not to be found in other angiosperms. None of generative cell nuclei has been observed to dividede novo throughout the progamic phase, although they do participate in fertilization. Neither fertilization of the generative cell nucleus with the central nucleus nor formation of endosperm occurred in this plant. Although the chromosome number in the developing proembryonic cells numbered 2n=30, exhibiting diploidy, the number of marker chromosomes was equal to the sum of half the number of marker chromosomes of the parental clones. From the results described above, we may conclude that the reproduction system of this species represents a new type of single fertilization (non-double fertilization) between egg cell and sperm cell nuclei caused by the omission of generative cell division and the formation of only one sperm cell nucleus.     

Imaging motility during fertilization

Studying reproduction in domestic species is now possible at the cellular and molecular level due to advances in the production of large numbers of zygotes and embryos in these species. In this paper we review the microtubule patterns during fertilization in domestic species. These results indicate that domestic species accomplish fertilization in a similar fashion to one another but in a far different fashion from rodents. Recent results indicate that human fertilization is similar to that of domestic species. We discuss the significance this has on the use of domestic species as a model system for human studies and possible consequences for the alleviation of human infertility.     

Environmental friendly nitrogen fertilization

With the huge intensification of agriculture and the increasing awareness to human health and natural resources sustainability, there was a shift towards the development of environmental friendly N application approaches that support sustainable use of land and sustain food production.

The effectiveness of such approaches depends on their ability to synchronize plant nitrogen demand with its supply and the ability to apply favored compositions and dosages of N-species. They are also influenced by farming scale and its sophistication, and include the following key concepts: (i) Improved application modes such as split or localized (“depot”) application; (ii) use of bio-amendments like nitrification and urease inhibitors and combinations of (i) and (ii); (iii) use of controlled and slow release fertilizers; (iv) Fertigation-fertilization via irrigation systems including fully automated and controlled systems; and (v) precision fertilization in large scale farming systems. The paper describes the approaches and their action mechanisms and examines their agronomic and environmental significance. The relevance of the approaches for different farming scales, levels of agronomic intensification and agro-technical sophistication is examined as well.

     

Environmental friendly nitrogen fertilization

With the huge intensification of agriculture and the increasing awareness to human health and natural resources sustainability, there was a shift towards the development of environmental friendly N application approaches that support sustainable use of land and sustain food production. The effectiveness of such approaches depends on their ability to synchronize plant nitrogen demand with its supply and the ability to apply favored compositions and dosages of N-species. They are also influenced by farming scale and its sophistication, and include the following key concepts: (i) Improved application modes such as split or localized ("depot") application; (ii) use of bio-amendments like nitrification and urease inhibitors and combinations of (i) and (ii); (iii) use of controlled and slow release fertilizers; (iv) Fertigation-fertilization via irrigation systems including fully automated and controlled systems; and (v) precision fertilization in large scale farming systems. The paper describes the approaches and their action mechanisms and examines their agronomic and environmental significance. The relevance of the approaches for different farming scales, levels of agronomic intensification and agro-technical sophistication is examined as well.