Cytoplasmic and sperm nuclear transformations in fertilized ammonia‐activated sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata) eggs

Abstract

AbstractStudies examining cytoplasmic and sperm nuclear transformations in sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata) eggs inseminated at different periods after ammonia activation have been caried out at the light‐ and electron‐microscopic levels of observation. Arbaca eggs treated with ammonia‐seawater demonstrated chromosome condensation after DNA synthesis and underwent a chromosome cycle similar to that described for Lytechinus [Mazia, 1947]. Cortical granule reaction, fertilization cone formation, and sperm aster development in eggs fertilized at 20 (interphase), 50 (prometaphase), and 180 (interphase) min after ammonia activation were structurally simialr to processes in untreated zygotes. Cyclical changes in the formation of fertilization cones and sperm asters, as reported for eggs fertilized after activation by agents that induce a cortical granule reaction, were not observed. Although sperm nuclear transformations were prolonged (14 vs 18 min), male pronuclei that developed in eggs fertilized 20 min after ammonia activation were morphologically similar to those observed in fertilized, untreated ova and incorporated 3H‐thymidine. Sperm incorporated into eggs at 50 min after ammonia activation underwent nuclear envelope breakdown and chromatin despersion; however, 3H‐thymidine incorporation was not observed, and male pronuclei rarely developed (less than 5% of all specimens examined). Subsequent to dispersion, the paternal chromatin condensed into chromosomes which were associated with an aster. These results demonstrate that although ammonia‐activated eggs inseminated at interphase or prometaphase undergo similar cytoplasmic alterations, sperm nuclear transformations vary with the chromosome cycle of the egg.