Biol. Bull. Sign up for etocs!
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Biol Bull 166: 277-298. (April 1984)
© 1984 Marine Biological Laboratory
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by JEFFERY, W. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by JEFFERY, W. R.

PATTERN FORMATION BY OOPLASMIC SEGREGATION IN ASCIDIAN EGGS

WILLIAM R. JEFFERY 1

1 Center for Developmental Biology, Department of Zoology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712

This article reviews the generation of cytoplasmic patterns by ooplasmic segregation in ascidian eggs. Ascidian eggs exhibit a spectacular episode of ooplasmic segregation after fertilization which finalizes the position of many different constituents with respect to the future embryonic axes. Among the elements that are rearranged by ooplasmic segregation include three different cytoplasmic regions of unique morphogenetic fate, cytoplasmic organelles, cell surface components, the cytoskeleton, and localized maternal mRNA molecules. New experimental evidence is reviewed suggesting that the reorganization of these constituents into a specific pattern in the egg is coordinated by their association in a cytoplasmic complex. The contraction of an actin filament network in this complex after fertilization is proposed to be the motive force for ooplasmic segregation. The focal point for ooplasmic segregation may be controlled by a local increase in intracellular calcium at or near the point of sperm entry.

Submitted on January 18, 1984
Accepted on January 20, 1984




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
L. R. Page
Novel Embryogenesis in a Nudibranch Gastropod: Segregation, Expulsion, and Abandonment of Deeply Pigmented Egg Cytoplasm
Biol. Bull., December 1, 2007; 213(3): 303 - 306.
[Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1984 by the Marine Biological Laboratory.