Ultrastructural analysis of abnormalities in the morphology of the second meiotic spindle in ethanol-induced parthenogenones.

A high frequency of parthenogenetic activation occurs when ovulated mouse oocytes are briefly exposed to a dilute solution of ethanol in vitro. Cytogenetic analyses of parthenogenones at metaphase of the first cleavage division have confirmed that parthenogenetic activation, per se, does not increase the incidence of chromosome segregation errors during the completion of the second meiotic division. Ethanol-induced activation, however, significantly increases the incidence of aneuploidy. The ultrastructural changes that occur in the morphology and organization of the second meiotic spindle apparatus in ethanol- and hyaluronidase-activated oocytes is reported here. Abnormalities in the arrangement of microtubule arrays and chromosome position were principally observed in ethanol-activated oocytes at anaphase and telophase of the second meiotic division, but were only rarely observed in hyaluronidase-activated oocytes. It is proposed that the abnormalities in spindle morphology and chromosome displacement observed in ethanol-activated oocytes represent the initial events that lead to chromosome segregation errors following exposure to this agent.