Bovine oocytes that had been matured and fertilized in vitro were cultured in a simple, chemically defined, protein-free medium (mTLP-PVA). When the medium was supplemented with 19 amino acids, development to the 8-cell (14-20% vs. 38-46%), morula (0-6% vs. 27-32%), and blastocyst (0-1% vs. 9-13%) stages 96, 144, and 192 h after insemination, respectively, was significantly greater in the absence than in the presence of glucose (5.56 mM) regardless of the presence of phosphate (1.05 mM). However, blastocyst development was difficult in medium with any combination of glucose and phosphate without amino acids. In mTLP-PVA with amino acids and different concentrations of phosphate, the highest proportions of embryos reaching the > or = 8-cell (56%), morula (44%), and blastocyst (24%) stages were obtained at a 0.35 mM concentration. When lactate and pyruvate were omitted from mTLP-PVA (mT-PVA) supplemented with amino acids and 0.35 mM phosphate, the first cleavage was completely inhibited. Although lactate or pyruvate alone could support blastocyst development to a limited extent (10-15%), a significantly higher proportion (22%) of blastocysts was obtained in medium with both lactate (10 mM) and pyruvate (0.5 mM).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes were inseminated in fertilization medium, mBO medium including caffeine (5 mM), heparin (10 ƒÊg/ml) and bovine serum albumin (BSA; 10 mg/ml) with or without glucose (13.9 mM). Oocytes were freed from cumulus cells 8 h post-insemination and