| Summary: | Abstract The major components of vitelline membrane (VM) are ovomucin, VM outer (VMO) I and VMO II. At present, the distribution pattern of maternal cells on the VM has not been described in detail. In this study, the existence and distribution characteristics of maternal cells on VM were observed. There were more than 3.2 × 105 somatic cells on VM, which were uneven distributed. The calcein AM/PI staining of the maternal cells on the VM showed that the cells’ viability changed with the freshness of the eggs, and that the maternal cells gradually underwent apoptosis and became degraded. The results of morphology of different tissues indicated that the most of maternal cells on the VM were granulosa cells. Moreover, the karyotype of the cultured granulosa cells, which is the main source of cells on VM, were identified as the normal diploid karyotype of chicken. Furthermore, the VM DNA extracted from chickens and quails, which represent the eggs of different size, was adequate for further genetic analysis. The VM DNA was easily accessible and relatively constant, without cross-contamination. Therefore, the VM DNA could potentially be applied for the molecular traceability between eggs and chickens, and be beneficial in avian ecology research studies.
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