Formation of the Adult Rudiment of Sea Urchins Is Influenced by Thyroid Hormones

1994 ◽  
Vol 161 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukihiro Chino ◽  
Minoru Saito ◽  
Kyo Yamasu ◽  
Takashi Suyemitsu ◽  
Katsutoshi Ishihara
Zoosymposia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-105
Author(s):  
CHISATO KITAZAWA ◽  
AKIRA YAMANAKA

The pigment cells of some sea urchin embryos emanate autofluorescence in response to light irradiation. However, it is unclear if this feature is maintained throughout larval development. In the present study we observed embryos and larvae of the temnopleurid sea urchins Temnopleurus hardwickii, T. reevesii, T. toreumaticus and Mespilia globulus exposed to light irradiation, and compared our findings with those of a strongylocentroid, Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus. After exposure to ultraviolet irradiation for a few minutes, there was a strong signal from the temnopleurid sea urchins. The signal was detected from a cell mass that is part of the adult (juvenile) rudiment, formed during development of the prism to the two-armed larval stage and not from pigment cells. This signal was observed in both live and formalin-fixed specimens. Fluorescence was also detected from the digestive organs, coelomic pouches, the ciliary band on the oral hood, from some yellowish-green cells and ectodermal cells, although there were some differences among species. In live H. pulcherrimus larvae, the amniotic cavity that is part of the adult rudiment emanated autofluorescence in response to ultraviolet irradiation. These results indicate that the autofluorescence observed in the cell mass of temnopleurid sea urchins is caused by a different mechanism than previously described. This feature may be a useful marker to trace development of the cell mass.


Zygote ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (S1) ◽  
pp. S52-S53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Suyemitsu

Algae were supplied continuously to four-armed pluteus larvae of the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus until the adult rudiment reached stage g, which is the initial stage of rudiment formation (Chino et al., 1994) After stage g, one group of larvae was reared without the addition of algae for comparison of the development of the adult rudiment with that in larvae given algae. Three days later, only 9.1 ± 0.3% of larvae without algae had reached stage j, while 76.8 ± 0.6% of larvae with algae had reached a stage beyond j, which indicates the formation of the complete adult rudiment.When larvae at rudiment stage g were reared in a medium supplemented with T4 or its derivatives, such as T3, 3,3′,5′-L-triiodothyronine (rT3) or triiodothyropropionine (Tp3), in place of algae, the adult rudiment developed in a dose-dependent manner. T4 was the most effective and induced formation of the adult rudiment in more than 70% of specimens at 1 nM and in almost 100% at 100 nM. T3 was one-tenth as effective as T4. Other derivatives were still less effective. On the other hand, casein, ovalbumin, tyrosine and a mixture of 20 amino acids had no effect on the development of larvae and adult rudiments, suggesting that they were not available as nutrients and sources of thyroid hormones.


Development ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 128 (24) ◽  
pp. 4935-4948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mizuki Aihara ◽  
Shonan Amemiya

Indirect-developing sea urchins eventually form an adult rudiment on the left side through differential left-right development in the late larval stages. Components of the adult rudiment, such as the hydropore canal, the hydrocoel and the primary vestibule, all develop on the left side alone, and are the initial morphological traits that exhibit left-right differences. Although it has previously been shown that partial embryos dissected in cleavage stages correctly determine the normal left-right placement of the adult rudiment, the timing and the mechanism that determine left-right polarity during normal development remain unknown. In order to determine these, we have carried out a series of regional operations in two indirect-developing sea urchin species. We excised all or a part of tissue on the left or right side of the embryos during the early gastrula stage and the two-armed pluteus stage, and examined the left-right position of the adult rudiment, and of its components. Excisions of tissues on the left side of the embryos, regardless of stage, resulted in formation of a left adult rudiment, as in normal development. By contrast, excisions on the right side of the embryos resulted in three different types of impairment in the left-right placement of the adult rudiment in a stage-dependent manner. Generally, when the adult rudiment was definitively formed only on the right side of the larvae, no trace of basic development of the components of the adult rudiment was found on the left side, indicating that a right adult rudiment results from reversal of the initial left-right polarity but not from a later inhibitory effect on the development of an adult rudiment. Thus, we suggest that determination of the left-right placement of the adult rudiment depends on a process, which is directed by the right side, of polarity establishment during the gastrula and the prism stages; however, but commitment of the cell fate to initiate formation of the adult rudiment occurs later than the two-armed pluteus stage.


Author(s):  
D. F. Blake ◽  
L. F. Allard ◽  
D. R. Peacor

Echinodermata is a phylum of marine invertebrates which has been extant since Cambrian time (c.a. 500 m.y. before the present). Modern examples of echinoderms include sea urchins, sea stars, and sea lilies (crinoids). The endoskeletons of echinoderms are composed of plates or ossicles (Fig. 1) which are with few exceptions, porous, single crystals of high-magnesian calcite. Despite their single crystal nature, fracture surfaces do not exhibit the near-perfect {10.4} cleavage characteristic of inorganic calcite. This paradoxical mix of biogenic and inorganic features has prompted much recent work on echinoderm skeletal crystallography. Furthermore, fossil echinoderm hard parts comprise a volumetrically significant portion of some marine limestones sequences. The ultrastructural and microchemical characterization of modern skeletal material should lend insight into: 1). The nature of the biogenic processes involved, for example, the relationship of Mg heterogeneity to morphological and structural features in modern echinoderm material, and 2). The nature of the diagenetic changes undergone by their ancient, fossilized counterparts. In this study, high resolution TEM (HRTEM), high voltage TEM (HVTEM), and STEM microanalysis are used to characterize tha ultrastructural and microchemical composition of skeletal elements of the modern crinoid Neocrinus blakei.


Author(s):  
Frank J. Longo

Measurement of the egg's electrical activity, the fertilization potential or the activation current (in voltage clamped eggs), provides a means of detecting the earliest perceivable response of the egg to the fertilizing sperm. By using the electrical physiological record as a “real time” indicator of the instant of electrical continuity between the gametes, eggs can be inseminated with sperm at lower, more physiological densities, thereby assuring that only one sperm interacts with the egg. Integrating techniques of intracellular electrophysiological recording, video-imaging, and electron microscopy, we are able to identify the fertilizing sperm precisely and correlate the status of gamete organelles with the first indication (fertilization potential/activation current) of the egg's response to the attached sperm. Hence, this integrated system provides improved temporal and spatial resolution of morphological changes at the site of gamete interaction, under a variety of experimental conditions. Using these integrated techniques, we have investigated when sperm-egg plasma membrane fusion occurs in sea urchins with respect to the onset of the egg's change in electrical activity.


2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-56
Author(s):  
A BARISON ◽  
L RONDININI ◽  
S GUIDERI ◽  
M COCEANI ◽  
M SCARLATTINI ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document