ISSN:
0362-2525
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
In ascidians the development of eggs and of buds are in sharp contrast. In bud development cell sizes are minimal throughout. Gross differentiation of form becomes apparent from the beginning, histological differentiation only when cell division is ending. The position of a cell relative to the whole determines its nature. Multiplication of cells continues until sufficient have been formed for the expression of all specific and other characters. In sexual development the egg is a large cell which divides until the minimal cell sizes characteristic of the species are obtained. The course of cleavage is a curve suggesting the attainment of a state of equlibrium. Commencing before fertilization and continuing during cleavage is a precocious differentiation of certain parts that inhibits further cell division and results in the formation of special larval structures that function when a mere fraction of the whole developmental period has elapsed. This differentiation may be suppressed, or may be retarded, without affecting the development of the rest of the egg. In the remaining parts cell division continues until minimal cell sizes are reached and only then does histological differentiation become apparent, as in asexual development. The number of cells thus formed is very small compared with that necessary for the expression of the full character of the species, and the newly functional postlarval organism is necessarily peculiar in structure.
Additional Material:
19 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor.1050570204
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