Among the different types of seaweed that are cultivated in Korea for food, Capsosiphon fulvescensis the filamentous green alga with the highest production value. However, its harvest yield varies significantly from year to year due to its dependence on the natural seeding method. The present study aimed to identify the conditions affecting the formation of cyst-zygotes that can be utilized as artificial seeds during the life cycle of C. fulvescens. Gametangia and zygotes of C. fulvescens were found to be highly developed at temperatures above 15°C, with a maximum gametangial development rate of about 35% observed after 7 days of culture. The formation of zygotes into cystzygotes was induced within 7 days in all temperature conditions, but after 30 days of culturing, cyst-zygotes germinated into filamentous thalli at temperatures above 20°C, while the most stable formation and stabilization were observed at 15°C. Cystzygotes formed at 15°C showed high growth when they were transferred to 25°C conditions, and zoospores matured inside the cells. The production of cyst-zygotes was mostly influenced by temperature, and a gradual increase in temperature was found to be necessary for the formation and growth of cyst-zygotes. The culture conditions facilitating the formation of cyst-zygotes reported in this study can be useful for the production of artificial seeds and breeding technology for the effective cultivation of seaweed.

ZAR1은 척추동물의 초기 배아 발달에 영향을 미치는 유전자로 알려져 있다. 본 연구는 두록 수퇘지 112두에서 ZAR1 유전자의 SNP을 발굴하고 ZAR1 유전자의 인트론 Single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)과 정액의 운동학적 특성들과의 연관성을 규명하였다. 돼지의 정액 운동학적 특성을 분석하기 위해서 운동성(motility, MOT), 직선운동 속도(straight-line velocity, VSL), 곡선운동 속도(curvilinear velocity, VCL), 평균운동 속도(average path velocity, VAP), 직진성(linearity, LIN), 선형성(straightness, STR), 측두 이동거리(amplitude of lateral head displacement, ALH) 및 머리 진동수(beat cross frequency, BCF)를 측정 하였다. SNP을 탐색하기 위해서 돼지의 혈액에서 genomic DNA를 추출하여 PCR(polymerase chain reaction)을 통해 시퀀싱 분석을 하여 유전자형을 분석하였다. 그 결과 ZAR1의 non-coding 영역인 인트론에서 SNP 3개를 확인 했으며 각 각 인트론 2 영역에서 g.2435T>C, 인트론3 영역에서 g.2605G>A, g.4633A>C 변이를 보였다. g.2435T>C, g.2605G>A는 각 각 MOT(p<0.01)와 VSL(p< 0.05)에서 높은 연관성을 나타냈고 g.4633A>C는 MOT, VCL, VSL, VAP, ALH에서 높은 연관성을 나타냈다(p<0.01). 본 연구 에서는 ZAR1 유전자의 SNP이 돼지 정액의 운동학적 특성들에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 ZAR1이 우수한 수퇘지들에서 번식능력이 높은 개체를 선발할 수 있는 후보유전자로 제시하며 다양한 돼지의 품종과 더 많은 두수를 확보하여 검증연구를 통해 우수한 능력의 수퇘지에서 활력이 좋은 개체를 선발하는 분자마커 연구의 기초자료로 사용이 가능하다.

Mitochondria are well known to regulate the mammalian embryo development. Recent studies showed that the mitochondrial dynamics responses are mainly generated through mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and cellular ATP production, which is dependent on mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, these mechanisms are unclear on development process of preimplantation porcine embryos. The aim of this study was to evaluate that difference of the mitochondrial dynamics-derived various functions on the embryo development according to lipid composition of zygote. First, zygote was classify two groups (high lipid, grade 1: G1 and low lipid, grade 2: G2) by lipid composition of cytoplasm. And, we performed the in vitro culture (IVC) using zygote of divided groups. The nuclei numbers and developmental rates of blastocysts were lower in G2 than those of G1 embryos. Next, we investigated the intracellular ROS and mitochondrial derived superoxide production in porcine embryos by using DCF-DA and Mito-SOX staining. As expected, both intracellular ROS and mitochondrial derived superoxide were significantly increased (p<0.05) in the preimplantation stage embryos of G2 group compared with G1 group. In addition, to observe difference of the mitochondrial functions, we investigated the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, ΔΨ) and contents of ATP in the preimplantation stage embryos by using JC-1 kit and ATP determination kit. These functions of mitochondria were dramatically reduced in cleavage stage embryos or blastocysts of G2 group. Finally, to verify the difference of the mitochondrial dynamics-derived various functions, we investigated the expressions of mitochondrial fission (Drp1, pDrp1-616) and fusion (Mfn1, Mfn2) factors by Western blotting analysis. Interestingly, the protein levels of pDrp1-616 in embryos of G1 group were continuously increased until blastocyst stage. Whereas, the expression patterns of Mfn1/2 in embryos of G2 group were significantly reduced during IVC progression. The expression patterns of mitochondria dynamic between the two groups were shown opposite. These results demonstrated that the lipid contents of zygote were related the positive-correlation with mitochondrial dynamics-derived functions in porcine embryos. Moreover, we suggest that lipid of zygote is play a important role on mitochondrial functions and dynamics during preimplantation embryos development in pigs.

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of in vitro culture media on embryonic development of in vitro-matured (IVM) oocytes after parthenogenetic activation (PA) in pigs. Immature pig oocytes were matured in TCM-199 supplemented with porcine follicular fluid, cysteine, pyruvate, EGF, insulin, and hormones for the first 22 h and then further cultured in hormone-free medium for an additional 22~26 h. IVM oocytes were activated by electric pulses and cultured in porcine zygote medium-3 (PZM-3) and North Carolina State University-23 supplemented with essential and non-essential amino acids (NCSU-23aa). These media were further modified by supplementing 2.77 mM myo-inositol, 0.34 mM trisodium citrate, and -mercaptoethanol (designated as mPZM-3 and mNCSU-23aa, respectively). Culture of PA embryos in mPZM-3 significantly increased development to the blastocyst stage than culture in NCSU-23aa (36.2% vs. 24.8%, p<0.05). Modified PZM-3 showed a significantly higher blastocyst formation than NCSU-23aa in both groups of embryos that were activated at 44 h and 48 h of IVM (51.0% vs. 35.5% and 49.0% vs. 34.2% in oocytes activated at 44 h and 48 h of IVM, respectively). Irrespective of the follicle diameter where oocytes were collected, embryonic development to the blastocyst stage was increased (p<0.05) by the culture in mPZM-3 compared to culture in NCSU-23aa (25.9% vs. 34.2% and 32.9% vs. 44.8% in embryos derived from small and medium size follicles, respectively). Our results demonstrated that culture media had significant effect on preimplantation development PA embryos and that mPZM-3 was superior to mNCSU-23 in supporting development to the blastocyst stage in pigs. This beneficial effect of mPZM-3 on embryonic development was not impaired by other factors such as time of oocyte activation and origin of immature oocytes (small and medium size follicles).