Bioscientifica Proceedings

Embryo technological procedures such as in vitro production and cloning by nuclear transfer are not as advanced in pigs as in cattle and cannot yet be applied under field conditions. The present paper focuses on genome activation in in vivo-derived, in vitro-produced and nuclear transfer pig embryos with special emphasis on the development of embryonic nucleoli, where the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes transcribed can be used as markers for genome ...

The complexity of implantation necessitates intimate dialogue between conceptus and maternal cells, and precise coordination of maternal and conceptus signalling events. Maternal and conceptus-derived steroid hormones, growth factors and cytokines, as well as integrins and their ligands, have important and inter-related roles in mediating adhesion between apical aspects of conceptus trophectoderm and maternal uterine luminal epithelium that leads to formation of an epithelioch...

The early morphological events in pig placental development are summarized and related to the known data on differences in placental vascular efficiency between Meishan and US breeds. The activation and localization of a number of factors, the ligands and their receptors, such as insulin-like growth factor (IGF), transforming growth factor β (TGFβ), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), as well as retinoids and cal...