In the present study, performances of several in vitro maturation (IVM) systems for porcine follicular oocytes were evaluated, and an efficient chemically defined IVM system for porcine oocytes was proposed. The proposed one-step culture system supplemented with polyvinylalcohol (PVA) gave competitive efficiencies in terms of oocyte maturation and blastocyst development after parthenogenetic activation and in vitro culture, compared with the conventional two-step culture system by a supplementation of porcine follicular fluid (pFF). Additionally, it is identified that the proposed chemically defined one-step culture system yielded the comparable level of blastocyst production to the conventional maturation system in porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Therefore, one can eliminate un-expected effects accompanied by supplementation of pFF. No medium replacement during whole maturation period is an additional benefit by applying this new system. Thus, these data support that the developed PVA supplemented chemically defined one-step IVM system for porcine follicular oocyte might be used in porcine SCNT program.

• Sangho Roh(Craniomaxillofacial Reconstructive Science Major, Dental Research Institute, and BK21 HLS, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University) Corresponding author
• Ja-Min Koo(Department of Cell Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, Gachon Gil University, These authors contributed equally to this work)
• Cheolhee Won(Craniomaxillofacial Reconstructive Science Major, Dental Research Institute, and BK21 HLS, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, These authors contributed equally to this work)
• Byung-Moo Min(Craniomaxillofacial Reconstructive Science Major, Dental Research Institute, and BK21 HLS, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University)