Repropedia

A Reproductive Lexicon

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egg activation

Egg activation refers to a series of events that occur in the egg after it is fertilized by a sperm. These events include completion of meiosis, initiating the block to polyspermy, and translation of specific mRNAs from the egg that are necessary for embryonic development prior to the maternal to zygotic transition. In all animal species studied to date, a rise in calcium levels within the egg triggers all events of egg activation.