Observations on the polar body in rabbit eggs by staining with fluorescent dye (Hoechst 33342) and aceto-lacmoid.

TATEMOTO Hideki, MAEDA Teruo, TERADA Takato, TSUTSUMI Yoshio

doi:10.1262/jrd1977.35.140

The position of the polar body in 140 fertilized rabbit eggs from the 1-cell to the hatched blastocyst stages and in 39 unfertilized eggs was observed microscopically by staining with Hoechst 33342 and/or aceto-lacmoid. It was easy to identify the first polar body (PB-1) and the second polar body (PB-2) as the result of staining with Hoechst or aceto-lacmoid. The chromatin of PB-1 was distributed in a scattered fashion in the cytoplasm as many particles, whereas the chromatin of PB-2 was displayed as a dense mass. In general, degeneration of PB was marked after the 8-cell stage in most fertilized eggs, though loss of PB-1 or PB-2, perhaps by degeneration, was evident in some 1-cell stage eggs. No PB could be detected in the hatched blastocyst. The division of PB-1 was observed not only in fertilized eggs but also in unfertilized eggs. The division was considered to be fragmentation or amitosis of PB rather than the second meiotic division, because (1) there were no spindles in the cell division of PB-1; (2) the amount of chromatin in the daughter cells was unequal between them and of lower concentration than in undivided PB-1; (3) the division occurred repeatedly in some cases; (4) the cellular sizes of daughter cells were irregular; and (5) the daughter cells tended to degenerate faster than undivided PB-1. Small, spherical and cytoplasmic bodies emitted at the first cleavage were observed in the perivitelline space. The emission process of these bodies was clearly observed in four 1-cell eggs in in vitro culture.

Observations on the polar body in rabbit eggs by staining with fluorescent dye (Hoechst 33342) and aceto-lacmoid.

Bibliographic Information

Search this article

Description

Journal

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Export

Report a problem