Ultrastructural Changes in the Surface Layers of the Newt's Egg in Relation to the Mechanism of Its Cleavage

Abstract

The surface and cortical layers of an uncleaved newt egg have a characteristic ultrastructure which remains unaltered during cleavage; ultrastructural changes are confined to the region of the furrow. At the onset of cleavage there is a dipping inwards of the rough heavily pigmented animal surface to form a groove. Along the bottom of the groove the surface irregularities are reduced and a dense band (0.1 µm thick and 16 µm wide) is formed immediately below the plasma membrane. Within this band there are parallel filaments, 8-10 nm in diameter, oriented in the direction of the future furrow. No structural modifications were observed below the cortical layers of the leading part of the furrow apart from accumulations of granules and the mid-bodies of the spindle remnant. It is proposed that the dipping-in of the groove is due to contraction within the filamentous band, rather than contraction in a sheet of subcortical gel as proposed previously. The filamentous band persists below the furrow during the later stages of cleavage. The new unpigmented surface first forms as a strip across the animal surface and begins to grow at the bottom of the groove. Over most of its area, it is much smoother than the pigmented surface and has less material on the outside of the plasma membrane. There are microvilli along the bottom of the groove. The join between the new unpigmented and the old pigmented surface is abrupt. As the new unpigmented surface grows in extent, a narrow furrow forms below the lowest part of the groove and progresses towards the vegetal surface. For most of its length the furrow is between 10-nm and 0.5 µm wide, but at its leading edge it is 2 µ wide with microvilli on its surface and 10-nm filaments below the plasma membrane. It is concluded that the progressive formation of the furrow is due to active growth of new unpigmented cell surface. At late cleavage a ridge 10 µm high forms at the join between the new and old surface. After cleavage the ridges approach and meet to form the intercellular junction by which daughter blastomeres are held together along the animal surface. The mechanism of cell cleavage in the newt egg and in other forms is discussed in the light of the present observations.