Fig 1.

Experimental design: Immature bovine oocytes were matured/fertilized in vitro and then presumptive zygotes were cultured in presence (IVC⁺) or absence (IVC⁻) of βME for up to 8 days. On day 8 post fertilization, expanded blastocysts developed in each group were selected, counted and then half of these embryos were randomly divided and further cultured for 2 other days in presence (IVC^{+ +}, IVC^{− +}) or absence (IVC^{+ −}, IVC^{− −}) of βME. Meanwhile, the other half of the expanded blastocysts in IVC⁺ and IVC⁻ groups were vitrified, thawed within 30 min and then post-warming (PT) embryos were randomly divided and cultured in presence (IVC⁺/PW⁺, IVC⁻/PW⁺) or absence (IVC⁺/PW ⁻, IVC⁻/PW ⁻) of βME. Gray boxes indicated the presence of βME