Mono-chorionic twin fetuses produced by injection of an ICM into a blastocyst
A, Ultrasonography image of a twin pregnancy at 30 days of gestation. Asterisks depict individual fetuses. B, Morphological analysis of fetuses recovered on day 51 of gestation. Note that while two fetuses share single placenta, a thin septum (arrowheads) separates each fetal cavity indicating mono-chorionic but di-amniotic pregnancy. C, PCR amplification of ZFX and ZFY regions produced two DNA fragments (male and female). Detection of 771bp fragment in liver and spleen samples of ICM-f1 indicates presence of male cells in female organs. D, Analysis of D11S2002 and AME microsatellite loci detected the presence of 3 different alleles in livers and a placenta of fetuses. E, Chromatogram of the rhesus mtDNA DHV1 region showing informative SNPs. Fetus ICM-f1 originated from a host blastocyst while ICM-f2 developed from the injected ICM. F, mtDNA RFLP analysis. G allele in mtDNA of the host blastocyst egg donor female #5 is recognized and digested by SphI (PaeI) while an A allele in the injected ICM egg donor female #6 precludes restriction. MtDNA haplotype of egg donor female #5 was detected in the liver and spleen of the ICM-f2 fetus derived from the ICM egg donor female #6.
Abbreviations in Fig. 1C: MW, M, F, He, Li, Br, Kid, Sp, Lu, St, Pl and neg indicate Molecular Weght, Male, Female. Heart, Liver, Brain, Kidney, Spleen, Lung, Stomach, Placenta and negative control, respectively. (See also Table S2 for detailed STR data)