Detection of Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Coding for Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase in Single Bovine Oocytes and Early Embryos

Abstract

The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method is widely used for studying mRNA expression in cells and tissues. In this study, we examined whether the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH) gene could be used as an endogenous control for gene expression in single bovine oocytes and early embryos. First, sequencing of partial bovine G3PDH cDNA from ovarian tissue was performed. The sequence analysis of bovine G3PDH cDNA after subcloning indicated a high homology with human, mouse and rat G3PDH cDNA. Next, we examined whether G3PDH could be detected in single bovine oocytes and early embryos by using the RT-PCR method. Signals for G3PDH mRNA were detected in single immature and mature oocytes and single embryos at the one-cell to blastocyst stages. Thus, G3PDH is suitable as an endogenous control for examining mRNA expression even with single bovine oocytes or early embryos by using the RT-PCR method.