Cytoplasmic regulation of the duration of cleavage in amphibian eggs.

Relations between a cytoplasmic species specificity and the duration of cleavage cycles were investigated by reciprocal injections of egg cytoplasm. Xenogenic cytoplasm induces an early or delayed cleavage of the recipient egg depending on the chronological specificity of the injected cell cytoplasm. Activity of the so-called cleavage timing system (CTS) was first detected in the cytoplasm of maturing oocytes at the stage of germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD). This specific cytoplasmic property was not dependent on the maturation promoting factor (MPF). Relations between the CTS and other cytoplasmic components which are known to induce cleavage are discussed.