It is widely believed that stimulation of the phosphoinositide pathway and production of 1,4,5-inositol trisphosphate (IP(3)) underlies the oscillatory changes in the concentration of intracellular free calcium ions ([Ca(2+)](i)) seen during mammalian fertilization. IP(3) promotes Ca(2+) release in eggs by binding to its receptor, the type-1 IP(3) receptor (IP(3)R-1, also known as ITPR1), a ligand-gated Ca(2+) channel located in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum, the main Ca(2+) store of the cell. While IP(3)R-1 has been shown to mediate all Ca(2+) release during mouse fertilization, whether or not it plays such an essential role in fertilization-induced Ca(2+) release in large domestic species such as bovine and porcine is presently not known. Accordingly, we have generated metaphase II bovine eggs with a approximately 70%-80% reduction in the number of intact IP(3)R-1 by inducing receptor down-regulation during oocyte maturation. We did so by injecting the nonhydrolyzable IP(3) analogue, adenophostin A. Functional Ca(2+) release analysis revealed that IP(3)R-1 is the predominant Ca(2+) release channel in bovine eggs, requiring as little as 20% of total intact receptor to mount persistent [Ca(2+)](i) oscillations in response to fertilization, expression of PLCzeta (also known as PLCZ1), and adenophostin A. However, lower concentrations of IP(3) and near-physiological concentrations of porcine sperm extract were unable to trigger [Ca(2+)](i) oscillations in this reduced IP(3)R-1 model. Furthermore, we present evidence that the sensitivity of bovine IP(3)R-1 is impaired at the first embryonic interphase. Together, these results demonstrate the essential role of IP(3)R-1-mediated Ca(2+) release during fertilization in bovine eggs, and identify cell cycle regulatory mechanisms of [Ca(2+)](i) oscillations at the level of IP(3)R-1.