Cytoplasmic inheritance and its implications for animal biotechnology

At fertilization, the mammalian sperm transmits the haploid paternal genome . However, it also carries a variety of other factors into the oocyte that have the potential to affect embryo development. These include mRNAs left o ver from spermatogenesis, mitochondria with their own DNA, cytoskeletal and contractile elements, remnants of the sperm plasma membrane and, in many s pecies, the sperm centriole. While most of these elements are eliminated, s ome play essential roles in early embryogenesis. In this review, I summariz e the latest information on these phenomena and indicate some of the implic ations for animal biotechnology and, in particular, cloning. (C) 2001 by El sevier Science Inc.