Totipotency of mouse zygotes extends to single blastomeres of embryos at the four-cell stage.

ABSTRACT: In multicellular organisms, oocytes and sperm undergo fusion during fertilization and the resulting zygote gives rise to a new individual. The ability of zygotes to produce a fully formed individual from a single cell when placed in a supportive environment is known as totipotency. Given that totipotent cells are the source of all multicellular organisms, a better understanding of totipotency may have a wide-ranging impact on biology. The precise delineation of totipotent cells in mammals has remained elusive, however, although zygotes and single blastomeres of embryos at the two-cell stage have been thought to be the only totipotent cells in mice. We now show that a single blastomere of two- or four-cell mouse embryos can give rise to a fertile adult when placed in a uterus, even though b

SUBMITTER: Maemura M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8160171 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature