The yield and quality of (a) parthenogenetic blastocysts produced by two activation treatments (cycloheximide [CHX] or 6-dimethylaminopurine [DMAP]) and (b) nuclear transfer blastocysts generated using these two activation treatments and three different ages of karyoplast derived from day 3, 4, or 5 in vitro produced donor embryos, were examined in order to define an optimal nuclear transfer protocol. The two activation protocols comprised calcium ionophore followed by either CHX or DMAP. Parthenogenetic blastocyst yields were greater (P <0.001) following activation with DMAP than CHX (59.7 +/- 5.1 vs. 31.4 +/- 4.5 [mean +/- SEM]). In contrast, nuclear transfer blastocyst rates per fused embryo were lower (P <0.0001) using cytoplasts activated with DMAP. The individual rates using day 3, 4, and 5 donors and using CHX and DMAP activation treatments were 31.9 +/- 5.0, 31.7 +/- 6.2, 20.4 +/- 7.3 and 27.8 +/- 4.7, 20.1 +/- 7.5, 12.7 +/- 8.3, respectively. Blastocyst rate per fused embryo was negatively correlated (P = 0.0091) with the total number of blastomeres per donor embryo. Despite this inverse relationship, the calculated potential blastocyst yield per donor embryo was positively correlated (P <0.0048) to karyoplast age. The individual potential yields on days 3, 4, and 5 and for the two activation protocols (CHX and DMAP) were 4.7 +/- 0.8, 7.2 +/- 1.2, 10.1 +/- 2.1 and 3.8 +/- 0.8, 5.5 +/- 2.1, 7.3 +/- 4.1, respectively. One possible explanation for the observed inverse relationship is that differentiation events during early cleavage are able to reduce the ability of the cytoplast to reprogram the transferred karyoplast and hence reduce blastocyst yields. The mechanism that mediates the differential effect of the CHX and DMAP on blastocysts yields between parthenogenetic and nuclear transfer embryos remains to be elucidated. In conclusion, the results indicate that although activation of oocytes with DMAP can produce a higher percentage of blastocysts, CHX activation is superior for use in nuclear transfer.