Removal of the shell coat affects maintenance of epithelia in blastocysts of the brushtail possum in vitro

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of the marsupial shell coat in embryonic development because it may be a potential target for immunocontraceptive control of the brushtail possum. Conceptuses from 52 female possums were collected between 1995 and 1997 in New Zealand and Australia. Development was examined in representative stages from cleavage to the early trilaminar blastocyst. The effect of coat removal by microdissection was examined by comparing development in vivo (n = 29), with development in vitro, both with (n = 10) and without (n = 13) shell coat removal. Conceptuses were monitored and photographed in culture, fixed and examined by transmission electron micro..