The fine structural development of preimplantation mouse parthenotes

Abstract

The normality of the preimplantation development of 2‐cell to expanded blastocyst stage mouse parthenotes, derived from oocytes activated in vivo, or in vitro, has been assessed at the fine structural level. Major changes in the organization of the cellular organelles, i.e., nucleoli, mitochondria, ribosomes, RER and junctional complexes, follow the same developmental sequences observed in embryos obtained from normally fertilized oocytes. One difference between parthenotes and controls is the scarcity of crystalloid bodies in parthenotes at the blastocyst stage. Because the embryos examined in this study had been cultured in vitro, in a simple salt and albumin medium in the absence of maternal influences, our observations on parthenotes indicate that developmental, preimplantation changes in the subcellular organization of the embryo do not require the continued presence of “maternal” factors or the participation of the paternal genome.