Abstract
In the eggs of Arbacia lixula and Paracentrotus lividus an uptake of K occurs during the first 10 minutes following fertilization. Between 10 and 40 minutes K is then released. Both in Arbacia and in Paracentrotus the minimum point of the curve coincides with the nuclear streak stage. A maximum loss of 25 per cent in Arbacia and 20 per cent in Paracentrotus with respect to the amount present in the unfertilized eggs has been found. From 40 minutes up to 1 hour K undergoes a further increase and when the first cleavage sets in the same amount of K is present as in the unfertilized eggs. By treating the eggs with K-free artificial sea water it has been established that about 60 per cent of the K content of the eggs is in a non-diffusible condition. Also under such conditions the eggs when fertilized are able to take up even the very small amount of K present in the medium that was released by them prior to fertilization.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (454.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Steward F. C., Preston C. EFFECTS OF pH AND THE COMPONENTS OF BICARBONATE AND PHOSPHATE BUFFERED SOLUTIONS ON THE METABOLISM OF POTATO DISCS AND THEIR ABILITY TO ABSORB IONS. Plant Physiol. 1941 Jul;16(3):481–519. doi: 10.1104/pp.16.3.481. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]