Involvement of the cytoskeleton in early grey crescent formation in axolotl oocytes

1987 ◽  
Vol 196 (5) ◽  
pp. 316-320
Author(s):  
Jean Gautier ◽  
Ren�e Tencer
Development ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-609
Author(s):  
J.-C. Beetschen ◽  
J. Gautier

Axolotl eggs were heat shocked (36.8°C, 10min) inside their jelly layers. Heat shock (HS) was shown to induce the precocious appearance of a grey crescent (GC) in a number of eggs immediately after fertilization (Benford & Namenwirth, 1974). It was also demonstrated that this phenomenon occurs in fertilized or artificially activated eggs only when they are shocked within 11/2h after spawning. The GC forms still later in heated unfertilized, nonactivated eggs. The role of the jelly layers is considered to be mechanical: a proportion of eggs is maintained in a tilted position until the egg is able to orient animal pole upwards under the influence of gravity as a late consequence of activation. The jelly layers are not essential if the eggs are artificially tilted or rotated during HS. GC formation can also be induced in in vitro maturing oocytes, provided they are tilted during HS. Gravity thus plays an essential role in the cytoplasmic rearrangements leading to HS-induced GC formation. Our results indicate a synergistic action between heat and gravity in this process. The cytological appearance of the GC formed in those experiments is that of a ‘Born's crescent’ with a conspicuous ‘vitelline wall’ (Pasteels, 1964). When oocytes are enucleated before maturation, HS has no effect on GC formation. A nuclear factor is therefore essential, as has been demonstrated in early GC formation induced by inhibitors of protein synthesis. Finally, incorporation of amino acids into oocyte proteins appears to be rapidly inhibited by HS (from 5 min). However, we cannot conclude that GC formation is in fact triggered by inhibition of protein synthesis. It is also likely that HS disrupts cytoskeletal structure, hence facilitating cytoplasmic rearrangements. Nevertheless, these results are in agreement with the scheme we recently proposed for GC formation in the rotated axolotl oocyte (Gautier & Beetschen, 1985).


Development ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Lucena J. Barth

That the materials for protein synthesis in the frog egg must come from yolk is indicated by the constancy of total nitrogen during development (Gregg & Ballentine, 1946) and the fact that the egg can develop with no outside source of organic or inorganic materials. When and where in the developing egg new proteins arise, and what are the mechanisms which control the rate and direct the specificity of such syntheses, are problems which are beginning to occupy increasing numbers investigators using several methods of attack—immunological, enzymological, electrophoretic, and incorporation of labelled amino acids, for example. Brachet (1940), using histochemical methods, described a change in the distribution of sulphydryl proteins coincident with grey crescent formation. In the newly-laid egg of Triton or Pleurodeles Brachet found the sulphydryl proteins to be restricted to a small spot centred about the maturation figure near the animal pole. This picture changed during the first few hours after fertilization.


1983 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 1753-1761 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Kline ◽  
K R Robinson ◽  
R Nuccitelli

We used an extracellular vibrating probe to measure ion currents through the cleaving Xenopus laevis egg. Measurements indicate sharp membrane heterogeneities. Current leaves the first cleavage furrow after new, unpigmented membrane is inserted. This outward current may be carried by K+ efflux. No direct involvement of the Na+,K+-ATPase in the generation of this outward current is detected at first cleavage. Inward current enters the old, pigmented membrane; however, it does not enter uniformly. The inward current is largest at the old membrane bordering the new membrane. This suggests a heterogeneous ion channel distribution within the old membrane. Experiments suggest that the inward current may be carried by Na+ influx, Ca2+ influx, and Cl- efflux. No steady currents were detected during grey crescent formation, the surface contraction waves preceding cleavage, or with groove formation at the beginning of cleavage.


1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 2860-2872 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yee-Yung Ng ◽  
Jun-Ming Fan ◽  
Wei Mu ◽  
David J. Nikolic-Paterson ◽  
Wu-Chang Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2015 ◽  
Vol 237 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hünemörder ◽  
Julia Treder ◽  
Stefanie Ahrens ◽  
Valéa Schumacher ◽  
Hans-Joachim Paust ◽  
...  

Development ◽  
1958 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 486-490
Author(s):  
S. Løvtrup ◽  
A. Pigon

According to the hypothesis advanced by Løvtrup (1958) the supply of oxygen is one of the factors responsible for the determination of bilateral symmetry in amphibian embryos. The protein coat covering the outside of the egg is known to have a very low permeability (Holtfreter, 1943), and it was suggested in the hypothesis that the formation of the grey crescent consists in a stretching of this coat by which the permeability is increased (cf. the work of Dalcq & Dollander (1948) and of Dollander & Melnotte (1952) on permeability of Nile blue), in this way the radial symmetry of the egg is changed to a bilateral symmetry from a metabolic point of view. As a consequence of the increase in permeability those oxidative, energy-supplying processes which are associated with gastrulation are enabled to proceed at a higher rate at one side of the egg.


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