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Science 1 February 2008:
Vol. 319. no. 5863, pp. 613 - 616
DOI: 10.1126/science.1151276
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Reports

The Maternal Nucleolus Is Essential for Early Embryonic Development in Mammals

Sugako Ogushi,1,2,3* Chiara Palmieri,5 Helena Fulka,3,4 Mitinori Saitou,2 Takashi Miyano,1 Josef Fulka, Jr.3

With fertilization, the paternal and maternal contributions to the zygote are not equal. The oocyte and spermatozoon are equipped with complementary arsenals of cellular structures and molecules necessary for the creation of a developmentally competent embryo. We show that the nucleolus is exclusively of maternal origin. The maternal nucleolus is not necessary for oocyte maturation; however, it is necessary for the formation of pronuclear nucleoli after fertilization or parthenogenetic activation and is essential for further embryonic development. In addition, the nucleolus in the embryo produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer originates from the oocyte, demonstrating that the maternal nucleolus supports successful embryonic development.

1 Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
2 Laboratory for Mammalian Germ Cell Biology, RIKEN Kobe Institute, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
3 Institute of Animal Science, Prague 104 01, Czech Republic.
4 Institute of Molecular Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague 142 20, Czech Republic.
5 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo 64100, Italy.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ogushi{at}cdb.riken.jp

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Contribution of the oocyte nucleus and cytoplasm to the determination of meiotic and developmental competence in mice.
A. Inoue, R. Nakajima, M. Nagata, and F. Aoki (2008)
Hum. Reprod. 23, 1377-1384
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
T cells count and then decide.
R. Robinson (2008)
J. Cell Biol. 180, 650
   Full Text »    PDF »
Embryos need Mom's nucleolus.
R. Robinson (2008)
J. Cell Biol. 180, 650
   Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)