Organogenesis in normal and lobeless embryos of the marine prosobranch gastropod Ilyanassa obsoleta

The histogenetic and organogenetic capabilities of normal and lobeless embryos of Ilyanassa obsoleta are analyzed. Larvae developed from eggs in which the polar lobe was removed at the trefoil stage of first cleavage were studied in wholemount and section. None showed any evidence of eyes, statocysts, operculum, external shell, heart, or intestine. Sixty per cent of the wholemount larvae observed under polarized light exhibited internal masses of birefringent material resembling shell material. Of eight- to nine-day lobeless larvae studied as stained, sectioned material 100% possessed muscle tissue; 97.5% possessed velar tissue, digestive gland tissue, and style sac tissue; 52.5% possessed two or more style sac areas; 71% exhibited esophagus; 63% possessed stomach tissue; 37% exhibited stomodeal-like invaginations of the ectoderm; 31% exhibited a lightly staining ciliated area at the tip of the prevelar ectoderm; and 21% possessed glandular ectoderm resembling pedal or mantle gland tissue. The evidence presented suggests that the material of the polar lobe has an important role not only in cellular differentiation but also in the organization of tissue types into organs or organ primordia.     

The role of unequal cleavage and the polar lobe in the segregation of developmental potential during first cleavage in the embryo of Chætopterus variopedatus

Summary The inequality of the first cleavage division of the Chætopterus embryo is caused by the production of a small polar lobe and the internal shifting of the first cleavage spindle. This division produces a two-celled embryo containing a small AB and a large CD blastomere. These blastomeres have different morphogenetic potentials. Only the larvae resulting from isolated CD blastomeres are able to form bioluminescent photocytes, eyes and lateral hooked bristles. The removal of the polar lobe during first cleavage does not have a great effect on development. These lobeless embryos display a normal pattern of cleavages through the time of mesentoblast formation. The resulting larvae are essentially normal, however they do not form functional photocytes. If the CD cell is isolated after the removal of the first polar lobe, the resulting larva is virtually identical to those formed by the intact CD cell except it lacks the photocyte cells. These results indicate that two separate pathways are involved in the segregation of developmental or morphogenetic potential which takes place during first cleavage. One set of factors, which are necessary for photocyte formation, are associated with the first polar lobe. Other factors that are necessary for the formation of the eyes and lateral hooked bristles are segregated by the unequal cleavage which results from an internal shifting of the cleavage spindle. The removal of a large portion of the vegetal region of the embryo during first cleavage leads to the production of larvae which display a decreased ability to form eyes and lateral hooked bristles. These embryos frequently display an abnormal pattern of cleavages. They do not form the primary somatoblast or the mesentoblast. These results indicate that the vegetal region of the CD cell of Chætopterus is analogous to polar lobes which have been studied in other species, and is therefore important in the specification of the D quadrant. These features of the first cleavage of Chætopterus are a combination of those displayed by forms with direct unequal cleavage and other forms which cleave unequally through the production of large polar lobes. The significance of these findings is discussed relative to the origins of these different types of unequal cleavage.     

Autoradiographic localization in polychaete embryos of tritiated mesulergine, a selective antagonist of serotonin receptors that inhibits early polychaete development.

Developing embryos of the polychaete Ophryotrochal labronica were exposed to tritiated mesulergine, a selective antagonist of the serotonin receptors 5-HT1c and 5-HT2, that also has significant affinity to dopamine D-2 sites, and the labeling was analyzed by autoradiography. Already at the earliest developmental stages (1-4 cells), numerous silver grains visualizing 3H-mesulergine binding sites and possibly also serotonin receptors were recorded over the cytoplasm, mostly in association with decomposing yolk granules, but few grains were detected over the nuclear region. In advanced pregastrular embryos (3 days) the number of silver grains was greatly increased over nuclei, cell borders and non-yolk cytoplasmic elements, notably in the animal half of the embryos. For newly gastrulated embryos (4 days), more than 90% of the grains appeared over non-yolk cellular structures. Abundant access to serotonin receptors is probably a fundamental condition not only for gastrulation but also for the high mitotic activity of the cleavage period. An indication hereof is the observation that exposure of cleaving polychaete eggs/embryos to unlabeled mesulergine inhibited cytokinesis and chromosome movements, whereas spindle formation and chromosome duplication were unaffected.     

Cycling cytoplasmic factors that promote mitosis in the cultured 2-cell mouse embryo

A cytoplasmic component(s), previously shown to rescue the 'blocked' 2-cell mouse embryo in vitro, has been demonstrated to peak in activity during the transition between G2 and M phase and decline thereafter. The possible significance of this component(s) in the regulation of cleavage of the cultured mouse embryo is discussed.     

Isolation and identification of substances inducing formation of tracheary elements in cultured carrot-root slices

Data are presented on the cytokinin status of seeds and seed components, at different stages of development in Phaseolus coccineus L., as determined with the soybean callus growth bioassay: A change in cytokinin types according to developmental stage occurred: from biologically very active less polar types (zeatin=Z) at early stages to more polar types (zeatin glucoside=Z₉G and zeatin riboside=Zr), with relatively low biological activity, at intermediate and late stages of seed development: When cytokinins were analyzed separately in embryos (embryo proper) and suspensors at two embryonic stages: heart-shaped (A) and middle cotyledonary embryos (stage B) respectively, it was found that: i) at stage A, the suspensor showed cytokinin activity at the level of Z, 2iPA (2-isopentenyladenosine) and Zr, whereas more polar cytokinins (Z₉G, Zr) were present in the embryo; ii) at stage B, when the embryo seems to become autonomous for cytokinin supply, there was a relative abundance of active cytokinins (Z, 2iPA) in the embryo to which Z₉G activity in the suspensor corresponded. It is concluded that the suspensor plays an essential role in embryogenesis by acting as a hormone source to the early embryo.Abbreviations GA gibberellic acid - 2iPA 2-isopentenyladenosine - Stage A heart-shaped embryo - siage B middle cotyledonary embryo - Z zeatin - Z₉G zeatin glucoside - Zr Zeatin riboside     

水稻中央细胞发育期间超微结构变化的观察

本文通过透射电镜对水稻受精前胚囊中央细胞发育过程中超微结构的变化进行观察。结果表明,八核胚囊形成后很快就进行细胞化形成7个细胞,其中刚形成的中央细胞由1个大液泡、2个极核（珠孔端和合点端各1个）和一些含有丰富细胞器的胞质组成。中央细胞以后的发育主要是极核的发育和极核周围胞质的变化。极核发育经历以下过程：a．2个核都膨大呈“椭圆”形。核周围胞质呈不对称分布。b．2个核分别向胚囊中央移动并相互靠近。之后2个极核调整排列方式,由纵排（即与胚囊纵轴平行）变成横排。此时期有细胞质“桥”联结珠孔端卵器、2个极核和合点端反足细胞器。c．横排的极核移向卵器,并排列于卵细胞之上。此时胚囊未明显膨大,但极核相靠近的两边核膜有许多处已形成“融合桥”,核周围的胞质也起较大的变化,如质体内淀粉消失和光面内质网增加等。极核进一步发育直至胚囊成熟期间,极核排列方式及其周围胞质组成未观察到明显的变化,但胚囊体积明显增大。     

Holoblastic early cleavage of Tetrodontophora bielanensis (Collembola) eggs, with special reference to its irregularity.

The fertilized eggs of Tetrodontophora bielanensis start to cleave 6 to 8 days after oviposition and initially only karyokineses occur. The cytokinesis begins after two karyokineses, when four nuclei are observed in the ooplasm. Two cleavage furrows, perpendicular to each other, appear simultaneously at the egg poles where polar bodies are located and gradually the furrows encompass the whole egg diameter. The furrow formation is initiated by the bundle of microfilaments that contract and pull superficial fragments of the oolemma into the yolk and subsequently new membranes, separating the daughter cells, start to form. However, they do not grow towards the egg centre but bifurcate, leaving the central part of the ooplasm outside of the newly formed blastomeres. Starting from the fourth or fifth cleavage division, the bifurcations permanently occur and multiple cleavage furrows are formed on the embryo surface. Moreover, fragments of the ooplasm, enclosed within the cell membrane but devoid of cell nucleus are observed. During further development such cell fragments become reincorporated into the embryo. This mode of cleavage leads eventually to the formation of cellular blastoderm on the embryo surface. The results presented in the paper suggest that the control of cleavage in T. bielanensis acts not at the level of cytoplasmic determinants but rather at the level of positional information of blastomeres.     

Nucleic acid synthesis in the normal and lobeless embryo of Ilyanassa obsoleta.

The RNA and DNA content of the normal and lobeless embryo of the Ilyanassa embryo was measured at several stages of embryogenesis. In the lobeless embryo a delay in the net accumulation of RNA and a decrease in the rate of DNA synthesis were observed. It is suggested that the failure of some of the lobe dependent organs to differentiate may be caused by a reduced rate of proliferation of determined embryonic cells.     

耕作方式对东北雨养区玉米光合与叶绿素荧光特性的影响

在东北地区设置大田试验,研究不同耕作方式下玉米全生育期耕层土壤温度、土壤含水量、叶片光合性能及叶绿素荧光参数的变化特征.结果表明： 耕作方式对土壤水热性能的影响主要体现在播种-拔节阶段,2010-2011年平地播种中耕起垄(PL)和全生育期平作(PP)处理0～40 cm土层土壤体积含水量在出苗期、苗期和拔节期比传统垄作(LL)处理平均提高5.6%和5.2%、4.6%和7.3%及3.9%和4.8%,苗期5 cm土壤最低温度分别比LL处理高1.4和1.3 ℃.由于土壤水热条件的改善,拔节期PL和PP处理的叶片净光合速率(P_n)、蒸腾速率(T_r)等指标显著高于LL处理,而PSII潜在活性(F_v/F_o)和PSII最大光化学效率(F_v/F_m)无显著差异,表明气孔导度和气孔限制值等气孔因素是导致光合作用差异的主要原因;灌浆期叶片P_n和T_r则以LL和PL处理显著高于PP处理,这主要是由于PP处理在强降雨时期经历了涝渍灾害,光合作用受到抑制.可见PL处理通过改善土壤水热条件增强了玉米光合性能,进而提高了籽粒产量.     

The interconversion of purine nucleotides during Ilyanassa embryogenesis

The phosphorylation and interconversion of purines was measured after pulsing normal and lobeless Ilyanassa embryos with [2-³H]-adenosine. The isolated polar lobe phosphorylated and interconverted purines to the same extent as the intact egg, and the removal of this anucleate structure did not significantly impair these functions in the lobeless egg. All components of the egg, i.e. the polar lobe and lobeless egg, were equally effective in the synthesis of dATP.     

The Localisation of ATP in the Polar Lobe of the IIyanassa Egg

The ATP content of the Illyanassa egg, the lobeless egg and the third polar lobe was measured. The third polar lobe contained 37.8 per cent of the ATP of the intact egg.     

The maternal‐to‐zygotic transition: An asynchronous split

The early cell cycles of preimplantation embryo development are unique in the scheme of mitotic cell proliferation as cell division is not coupled to cell growth, leading to a halving of blastomere volume with each cleavage event. Among the early mouse embryonic divisions, the fi rst two are particularly different, lasting almost twice as long as subsequent divisions. The third cell cycle is marked by the transition of a four‐cell embryo into an eight‐cell embryo, and represents the fi rst complete cell cycle occurring after activation of the zygotic genome. The G2/M phase of the third cell cycle is highly variable, lasting between 2–5 hours, and heterogeneity between blastomeres within the same embryo may occur as a part of normal development. The embryo in this image is actively undergoing cleavage from the four‐ to the eight‐cell stage, and blastomeres are captured in multiple phases of the cell cycle, as visualized by chromatin structure (DNA, blue) and microtubule staining (α‐tubulin, green). Two blastomeres sit in interphase with decondensed chromatin masses and a mesh‐like microtubule network, while the remaining blastomeres are actively undergoing mitosis. Of the latter, one is in metaphase, one in early anaphase, and the last in late anaphase. All together, the diversity in cell cycle stages reveals the inherit asynchrony existent within individual blastomeres of a cleavage stage embryo. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 80: 1–1, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Significance of the polar lobe for the determination of dorsoventral polarity in Dentalium vulgare (da Costa)

The development of dorsoventral polarity in Dentalium dentale has been analyzed after inhibiting first polar lobe formation with cytochalasin B and bisecting the egg into two equal parts at an early trefoil stage. Cleavage pattern and morphogenesis have been studied in both in vivo and permanent cytological preparations. After bisecting the egg, each blastomere may fuse with its adhering polar lobe half and subsequently behave as a CD blastomere. The polar lobe substance may induce both halves to develop an apical tuft and probably also a posttrochal region. Cytochalasin B embryos which pass through an equal first cleavage form a four-cell stage in which the two D blastomeres are situated opposite or adjacent to each other (CDCD or CCDD embryos, respectively). During further development the larvae show a duplication of lobe-dependent structures. It is concluded that dorsoventral polarity originates epigenetically by fusion of the polar lobe with one of the first two blastomeres and is not preformed in the uncleaved egg.     

Predetermination of cytokinesis and transition from holoblastic to partial superficial cleavage in early embryonic development of Tetrodontophora bielanensis (Collembola)

In the T. bielanensis embryo, only karyokinesis occurs during the first cleavage division, and a two-nuclear syncytial embryo forms. Then, two cytoplasmic concentrations in the form of elongated rolls perpendicular to each other develop below the periplasm at the animal pole of the egg. The second cleavage division is also associated with karyokineses only. After the embryo reaches the four-nuclear stage, cytokinesis occur at its animal pole, and two cleavage furrows perpendicular to each other develop in the periplasm above the cytoplasmic concentrations. The cell membranes forming within the furrows do not invade the cytoplasmic concentrations, but their growing tips push them into the egg interior, where they merge and form the central cytoplasmic concentration. The developing cell membranes do not invade the central cytoplasm; they band and grow above its surface. Four pyramidal blastomeres form as a result of this. The eight-blastomere embryo forms through both karyokinesis and cytokinesis, but the growing cell membranes now band below the previous ones and cut off anucleate parts of the mother blastomeres, which fuse with the central cytoplasm. Thus, during this phase of development the transition from holoblastic to partial superficial cleavage is initiated. Morphological analysis suggests that the formation of the first two cytokinesis is predetermined by and depends on factors connected with the animal pole periplasm. It also suggests that the central cytoplasm constitutes the morphological field, inducing the transition from holoblastic to partial superficial cleavage.     

Ionic mechanism of the action potential and of its disappearance after fertilization in the Dentalium egg

The membrane electrical properties of the Dentalium egg have been studied under voltage-clamp, before and after fertilization, up to the trefoil stage. The egg has an action potential with two rapid rising phases and one steady component. Most of the current is carried by calcium ions. All inward currents are blocked by cobalt. After fertilization, excitability disappears within about 50 min. This is mainly due to the appearance of a new steady K conductance, which provides a shunt to the calcium current. This new conductance appears shortly after emission of the second polar body and slightly before the formation of the polar lobe of the embryo. It is also blocked by cobalt.     

Receptors for pea and lentil lectins on human lymphoid cells: demonstration of distinct lectin-defined cell subclasses

Lectins are useful probes for studying cell surface glycoconjugates. Pea (PL) and lentil (LL) lectin each requires for binding a fucosyl- and two alpha-mannosyl residues in core regions of glycopeptides, but differences in outer chain carbohydrates may alter their relative binding affinities. We used binding studies with [125I]-PL and LL and flow cytometry with fluorescein-conjugated (FITC)-PL and -LL to study their interactions with peripheral lymphocytes. Binding of both lectins to lymphocytes was saturable, reversible, and inhibited by alpha-methyl mannose. Scatchard analyses were consistent with two classes of receptors for each lectin. Flow cytometric analyses demonstrated that cell to cell receptor densities varied. Sixty-five percent of lymphocytes bound PL (mean 2 X 10(6) receptors/cell) and 45% bound LL (mean 3 X 10(6) receptors/cell). Competition studies demonstrated mutual inhibition, but flow cytometry revealed persistent FITC-PL or -LL binding depsite 20-fold molar excess of the other lectin. Distributions of receptors for PL and LL on lymphocytes were as follows: 45% of lymphocytes bound both PL and LL; 20% of lymphocytes bound PL alone; 35% of lymphocytes bound neither PL nor LL. Despite similar binding requirements for PL and LL and overlap between their receptors on lymphocytes, there appear to be subsets of receptors specific for each lectin. These results may reflect abilities of PL and LL to discriminate subtle carbohydrate differences on lymphocyte surfaces.     

Appearance and Distribution of RNA-Rich Cytoplasms in the Embryo of Xenopus laevis during Early Development

The occurrence of the dorsal yolk-free cytoplasm in the fertilized egg of Xenopus was re-examined, and the appearance and the distribution of RNA-rich cytoplasms in Xenopus embryos during early development were examined with their paraffin sections. The results show that the dorsal yolk-free cytoplasm does not occur solely in the dorsal part of the embryo but is continuous to similar cytoplasmic mass in the central and the ventral part. The whole mass of this continuous cytoplasm is denoted here as the mesoplasm. The locations of the mesoplasm in the embryo can be traced by its high RNA content during cleavage and blastulation. The cells endowed with the mesoplasm constitute a broad band about the equator of the blastula. At the lower edge of this band, the blastopore lip is formed during gastrulation. Another mass of yolk-poor and RNA-rich cytoplasm becomes distinct around every nucleus in the stage 4 embryo and is denoted here as the nucleophilic plasm. This plasm is diminished at every nuclear division and disappears in the stage 10 embryo. Origins and roles of the mesoplasm and the nucleophilic plasm were discussed and a mechanism of blastulation was suggested.