An in vitro model using co-culture of bovine in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos and bovine oviduct epithelial cells (bOECs) was established to study embryo-maternal interactions in the oviductal environment. In vitro conditions maintaining differentiated growth of oviductal cells were determined by evaluating several media supplemented with different sera at various concentrations. Morphological features were used as indicators of physiological growth, and it became obvious that synthetic oviduct fluid (SOF) supplemented with either oestrous cow serum (OCS) or dextran-coated charcoal-treated fetal calf serum (DCC-FCS) helped to prevent dedifferentiation of bOECs (Expt 1). RT-real-time-PCR analysis revealed an increased mRNA content of the oviduct-specific glycoprotein GP 85-97 when using lower serum concentrations (2 and 5% compared with 10%; Expt 2). In subsequent experiments in which cell-free cultured controls and co-cultured embryos were compared, co-cultured embryos showed an increased rate of cleavage (P < 0.05) after 3 days. Successive cell-free culture until day 8 resulted in a lower rate of blastocyst development (P < 0.05) and reduced ATP content (P < 0.05) of co-cultured versus control embryos (Expt 3). Long-term co-culture (8 days) in SOF with 5% OCS increased the expression of developmentally relevant genes (glucose transporter 1 (Glut-1) and heat shock protein (HSP 70)) in co-cultured versus control embryos (Expt 4). Higher embryonic Glut-1 mRNA expression after co-culture was obvious when using 10% DCC-FCS, but was not significant when culture medium was supplemented with 10% rather than 5% OCS (Expt 5). In conclusion, SOF with 5% OCS supports differentiated growth of bOECs. Co-culture under these conditions improves early cleavage rate, but not blastocyst development, and increases the expression of developmentally relevant genes influenced by type of serum and serum concentration.