MORPHOGENETIC SUBSTANCES FOUND IN THE EMBRYOS OF SEA URCHIN, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ANTI-VEGETALIZING SUBSTANCE

When sea urchin embryos up to the 2-cell stage are treated with 5 × 10⁻³ M chloramphenicol for a short period, small blastulae filled with mesenchyme-like cells (type A) are formed. If a homogenate of the embryos up to the 2-cell stage is introduced just after the chloramphenicol treatment, almost all embryos developed to normal plutei. Chloramphenicol treatment, started at the 8 ∽ 32-cell stages, induces vegetalized larvae (type B), and presumptive vegetalized ones develop normally after treatment with a homogenate of the embryos at the 16 ∽ 64-cell stages. If embryos are treated in the same manner at 7 hr after insemination, abnormal embryos which seem to be bipolar ones (type C) are observed at 40 hr after the treatment. These also develop normally, if a homogenate of embryos at the stages from unfertilized egg to gastrula is added to them at the end of the chloramphenicol treatment. The substances having these activities are named morphogenetic substances α, β and γ, respectively. The morphogenetic substance β (anti-vegetalizing substance) is heat stable and its molecular weight is less than 10,000.