[Effect of the in vitro conditions of mouse oocyte maturation on their capacity for parthenogenetic activation as affected by cycloheximide and ethanol].

The efficiency of 7% ethanol and cycloheximide (CH) as activators of parthenogenesis was compared on the in vitro matured oocytes of the CBA/C57BL (F1) mice. CH is a more potent activator but the oocytes are activated by ethanol more synchronously. The oocytes matured in the F12, F10 and RPMI 1640 media were activated by ethanol reliably better than those matured in the Minimum Essential Medium Eagle or in the M3 medium. Addition of five amino acids (arginine, alanine, serine, aspartic and glutamic acids), only ornithine or arginine, as well as prolongation of oocyte cultivation in M3 from 19.5 to 26.5 h reliably increased the percentage of activated oocytes.