Abstract

Most reproductive biologists who study female gametes will agree with the 16th century anatomist William Harvey’s doctrine: ‘Ex Ovo Omnia’. This phrase, which literally translates to ‘everything from the egg’, recognizes the centrality of the egg in animal development. Eggs are most impressive cells, capable of supporting development of an entirely new organism following fertilization or parthenogenetic activation. Not so uniformly embraced in the field of reproductive biology is the nomenclature used to refer to the female germ cell. What is an oocyte? What is an egg? Are these terms the same, different, interchangeable? Here we provide functional definitions of the oocyte and egg, and how they can be used in the context of mammalian gamete biology and beyond.

中文翻译：

---

解读卵母细胞和卵子：阐明哺乳动物雌配子的术语

摘要

大多数研究雌配子的生殖生物学家都会同意 16 世纪解剖学家威廉哈维的学说：“ Ex Ovo Omnia ”。这句话的字面意思是“来自鸡蛋的一切”，它承认鸡蛋在动物发育中的中心地位。卵子是最令人印象深刻的细胞，能够在受精或孤雌生殖激活后支持全新生物体的发育。在生殖生物学领域没有如此统一的是用于指代女性生殖细胞的命名法。什么是卵母细胞？什么是鸡蛋？这些术语是否相同、不同、可互换？在这里，我们提供了卵母细胞和卵子的功能定义，以及它们如何用于哺乳动物配子生物学及其他领域。