Effects of electric field strengths on fusion and in vitro development of domestic cat embryos derived by somatic cell nuclear transfer

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of electric field strength on the rate of membrane fusion between the somatic cell and cytoplast and on subsequent in vitro development of reconstructed embryos. Additionally, the in vitro developmental competence of cat oocytes artificially activated after 44 h of maturation culture was examined. An efficient fusion rate (64.2%) was obtained by applying a single pulse of 1.5 kV/cm for 50 micros, and the fusion rate remained almost constant at the higher field intensity (59.8 and 54.9% at 1.7 and 2.0 kV/cm, respectively). Although the cleavage rate of fused embryos increased with an increase of the electric field strength, there were no differences among the groups with respect to the proportion of development to the morula and blastocyst stages. In the additional experiment, oocytes at the metaphase II stage after culture for 44 h were activated by the combination of calcium ionophore (CaI) with cycloheximide (CHX). Some (11.8%) of activated oocytes developed to the blastocyst stage. Results from this study indicated that electric field strength affects the rates of fusion and cleavage but has no significant effects on the development to the blastocyst stage of reconstructed embryos. Prolonged maturation culture of cat oocytes (up to 44 h) decreased their ability to develop to the blastocyst stage.