Localization of the factors producing the periodic activities responsible for synchronous cleavage in Xenopus embryos.

This paper investigates the localization within the Xenopus egg of the factors responsible for the periodic activities such as the cyclic rounding-up and flattening, related to the cleavage cycle. Denuded eggs were bisected along the boundary line between the animal and the vegetal hemispheres immediately after being rotated through 90 degrees off the vertical axis (Early Bisection). The resulting animal halves, though prevented from cell division by colchicine, showed typical periodic rounding-up as previously observed in enucleated egg fragments, whereas the vegetal halves did not. This result indicates that the factors inducing the periodic rounding-up are not distributed uniformly throughout the egg but localized mostly in the animal hemisphere. Furthermore, the distribution of these factors between the cortex and endoplasm of the animal hemisphere was investigated. Eggs were separated into animal and vegetal halves following incubation for 30 min after the 90 degrees-off axis rotation (Late Bisection). During this incubation the endoplasmic components become relocated in the rotated egg under the force of gravity. After the rotation, the Late-Bisected vegetal halves showed typical cyclic rounding-up in contrast to those formed by Early Bisection. These results suggest that the factors inducing the periodic rounding-up (and probably also many other cyclic activities, closely linked with the rounding-up movement) are localized in endoplasmic components which can be displaced by gravity from the animal to the vegetal hemisphere of the Xenopus egg.