This book's aim is to increase the awareness of a great variety of posttranslational modifications in the male and female reproductive system. Some of the most intriguing reproductive strategies, mechanisms, and pathways involving PTM are discussed, with an added angle of evolutionary conservation and diversity. The book also chapters on sperm-egg binding, as well as on histone modification in both the embryo and sperm. Chapters are also devoted to protein ubiquitination, the regulation of sperm function during fertilization in mammals and tubulin modifications in gametes and embryos. There are no other current books on posttranslational protein modifications as they relate to reproduction, making this contribution unique in the field. It is useful for both researchers and graduate students alike.

This book provides the reader with a unique developmental, molecular and cell biological view of the exciting SCNT technology, while also discussing its pitfalls and possible future directions and detours. The cellular events arising from SCNT procedure, such as the need for nuclear remodeling, disposal of donor cell organelles, presence of foreign mitochondrial DNA and altered mode of oocyte activation are explained.

Topics discussed include recent progress in pig SCNT and production of transgenic and knock out pigs for biomedical research and xenotransplantation, cattle cloning, behavioral studies in cloned mice, nuclear remodeling and imprinting, cell cycle regulation, nucleolar biogenesis, the effect of artificial activation on early development of cloned embryos, and inheritance of mitochondrial DNA and centrosome.

Altogether, the present tome provides the reader with a unique developmental, molecular and cell biological view of the exciting SCNT technology, while also discussing its pitfalls and possible future directions and detours. Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer will help both students and experienced researchers to further develop their knowledge and understanding of mammalian embryonic development.

This new volume of our successful book series Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology is focused on mitochondrial inheritance in humans and both vertebrate and invertrebate animals including Drosophila, C. elegans, bivalve molusc Mytilus and livestock mammals. Special consideration is given to cellular mechanisms promoting uniparental inheritance of mitochondria and mitochondrial genes, evolutionary perspectives, and biomedical and epidemiological considerations. Contributed by five distinguished mitochondrial research teams from around the world, this volume will target a wide audience of physiologists, anatomists, cell, and developmental and evolutionary biologists, as well as physicians, veterinarians, livestock specialists and biomedical researchers.

Capacitation is defined as the ensemble of modifications that render ejaculated sperm competent to fertilize, either in the female tract or in vitro. Capacitation can occur spontaneously in vitro in defined media, suggesting it is intrinsically regulated and, once initiated, follows a pre-programmed pathway. Unlike other signaling cascades, capacitation is unique as it occurs without a specific ligand. The authors show how the sperm, a highly compartmentalised and non-transcriptional cell, undergoes the complexities of capacitation. The acrosome reaction remains unclear. The book also features chapters on sperm-egg binding, as well as on histone modification in both the embryo and sperm. Chapters are devoted to protein ubiquitination, the regulation of sperm function during fertilization in mammals, and tubulin modifications in gametes and embryos. There are no other current books on post-translational protein modifications as they relate to reproduction, and this book is unique in the field. It is useful for both researchers and graduate students alike.