No abstract

We investigated the effects of various concentrations of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB, 0, 0.1, 1 and 10 mM), a ketone body, added to chemically-defined maturation medium with or without energy substrates (glucose, pyruvate and lactate) on nuclear maturation rates up to the metaphase stage of the second meiotic division (M-II stage). In addition, we also assessed the influence of BHB on glutathione content, sperm penetration rate and embryonic development up to the blastocyst stage of oocytes matured under the presence of these energy substrates. Nuclear maturation rates up to the M-II stage of oocytes matured with BHB in each concentration group did not show a significant increase compared with the control (0 mM) groups in both the presence and absence of energy substrates. Although glutathione contents were not significantly different in each BHB concentration group, the sperm penetration rate in the 1 mM BHB group was significantly higher (p<0.05) and the embryonic development rate of oocytes up to the blastocyst stage was significantly lower (p<0.05) than the respective values of the control groups. These results suggest that BHB added to a chemically-defined maturation medium may stimulate sperm penetration while inhibiting embryonic development of porcine oocytes.

A single well-preserved cranidium and an associated pygidium of Blackwelderia quadrata in association with Lingulella tsuchidai Endo were found while collecting in the black banded limestone at a section of the eastern hill near Saomiaotzu, Liaoyang hsien, Fengtien province. These specimens suggest that the limestone belongs to the latest Middle Cambrian Kushan formation.