The Effects of Specific Antisera on the Cleavage of the Sea Urchin Egg

Citation

Brookbank, John Warren (1955) The Effects of Specific Antisera on the Cleavage of the Sea Urchin Egg. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/44DN-JR12. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-11242003-103345

Abstract

Rabbit antisera against sea urchin unfertilized eggs (gelatinous coat removed), fertilized eggs and the gelatinous coat (fertilizin) of the unfertilized eggs have been found to inhibit the nuclear and cytoplasmic divisions of the fertilized egg. Antisera against whole sperm or sperm antifertilizin extracts were not effective in this regard, and absorption of the effective sera with sperm did not remove the blocking antibody of those sera. Extracts (calcium-free sea water) of whole fertilized eggs containing the ectoplasmic layer material were found to react with anti-egg sera after absorption with sperm, but not after absorption with eggs. This material in this extract has been tentatively described in this thesis as a carbohydrate. One such extract was found to agglutinate the sperm of the species, but not sand dollar sperm. Subsequent extracts have not shown this property. The respiration of fertilized eggs, blocked by the effective sera, was found to increase over the controls. The sodium content of fertilized eggs treated with immune blocking serum was not found to differ from the sodium content of eggs in normal serum. The tension at the surface of unfertilized eggs increases in the presence of anti-unfertilized egg serum, as judged by centrifugation experiments.

Thesis Files