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Injection of a boar sperm factor causes calcium oscillations in oocytes of the marsupial opossum, Monodelphis domestica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 1999

C. J. Witton ,
K. Swann ,
J. Carroll  and
H. D. M. Moore
C. J. Witton
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, S10 2UH, UK.
K. Swann
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
J. Carroll
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy & Development, University College, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
H. D. M. Moore
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, S10 2UH, UK.
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Abstract

At fertilisation, the sperm triggers an abrupt and transient increase in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) in the oocyte cytoplasm. In eutherian mammals, oocytes exhibit multiple [Ca2+]i transients which are necessary for egg activation. We investigated [Ca2+]i in the marsupial opossum, Monodelphis domestica. Embryo development in this therian mammal is quite distinct from that in most Eutheria. Oestrus was induced in an adult female opossum by introduction of a male into her cage. Injection of a boar sperm extract induced repetitive increases in [Ca2+]i. Each oscillation travelled across and around the periphery of the egg in a wave-like manner. A control injection of KCl elicited no change in [Ca2+]i. This is the first observation of [Ca2+]i oscillations in the oocyte of a marsupial. The repetitive nature of the [Ca2+]i changes were more similar to those in oocytes of Eutheria than those in oocytes of non-mammalian vertebrates.

Keywords

CalciumMarsupialMonodelphis domesticaOocyteSperm factor
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , November 1999 , pp. 271 - 277
Copyright
1999 Cambridge University Press

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