Reproductive capacity of the nucleus of the male gamete after completion of meiosis

Abstract

Our purpose was to investigate the possibility of achieving fertilization and subsequent normal embryonic development by injecting round spermatid nuclei into rabbit oocytes. Two- to four-cell-stage embryos developed after round spermatid nuclear injections into rabbit ooplasma could further develop in vitro up to the expanding blastocyst stage or in vivo up to complete gestation. The current findings show that the haploid set of chromosomes of round spermatid can pair with the chromosomes of the ootid to participate in complete fertilization and subsequent embryonic and fetal development. In addition, we suggest that postmeiotic modifications of the round spermatid are not required for the pairing of male gamete chromosomes with those of the ootid.