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Response of amphibian egg cytoplasm to novel gravity orientation and centrifugationThe effects of inversion and centrifugation on the compartmentalization of cytoplasm in Xenopus laevis eggs are investigated experimentally. The rearrangement of yolk-platelet compartments (YPC) characterized by morphology, density, and viscosity differences is studied in fertilized, unfertilized, and unfertilized electrically activated eggs in normal, and inverted positions and with and without centrifugation at 10-183 x g for 5 min. The eggs are fixed and embedded in plastic or paraffin prior to sagittal sectioning (0.5, 4, or 8 microns) and microscopic examination; the results are presented in a diagram and discussed. A density-compartment model combining both animal/vegetal and dorsal/ventral polarities is proposed: YPC determined without gravity orientation during oogenesis respond to both sperm entrance point and gravity after fertilization, and the response involves breaking of the radial symmetry of the egg. It is predicted that Xenopus eggs in a microgravity environment will encounter difficulties in establishing a primary embryonic axis.
Document ID
19840041594
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Neff, A. W.
(Indiana Univ. Bloomington, IN, United States)
Wakahara, M.
(Indiana Univ. Bloomington, IN, United States)
Jurand, A.
(Indiana Univ. Bloomington, IN, United States)
Malacinski, G. M.
(Indiana University Bloomington, IN, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 1983
Publication Information
Publication: Physiologist, Supplement
Volume: 26
ISSN: 0031-9376
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Accession Number
84A24381
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-60
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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