FIG. 3.

Typical phase-contrast and fluorescence images of primary (A–D) and secondary (E–F) oocytes showing their morphology and nuclei distribution, respectively: the primary oocyte includes both GV (A, B) and GVBD (C, D) oocyte, while the MII oocyte shown is secondary. A GV containing all nuclear materials can be clearly seen in the GV oocyte (A, B), the GVBD rendering the nuclear stain not as clearly identifiable in GVBD oocyte (C, D), and the nuclear materials separate and condense at two different locations with one being in the first polar body and the other in the cytoplasm of the MII oocyte (E, F). Scale bars: 25 μm. GV, germinal vesicle; GVBD, GV breakdown; MII, metaphase II. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea