The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical ViewpointLoeb, Jacques
Science
The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical Viewpoint
Loeb, Jacques
Biology; Life (Biology); Mendel's law
from the frogs produced by fertilization with a spermatozoön.
This makes the proof conclusive that the methods of artificial
parthenogenesis can result in the production of normal organisms which
can reach the adult stage.
Bancroft and the writer tried to determine the sex of a parthenogenetic
tadpole and of a frog just carried through metamorphosis. Since in
early life the sex glands of both sexes in the frog contain eggs it is
not quite easy to determine the sex, except that in the male the eggs
gradually disappear and from this and other criteria we came to the
conclusion that both parthenogenetic specimens, which were four months
old, were males.
The writer has recently examined the gonads of a ten months old
parthenogenetic frog. Here no doubt concerning the sex was possible
since the gonads were well-developed testicles containing a large
number of spermatozoa of normal appearance, and no eggs.[114] (Figs. 7
and 8.) This would indicate that the frog belongs to those animals in
which the male is heterozygous for sex.
[114] Since this was written, two more of the parthenogenetic frogs
over a year old died. Both were males.
8. The fact that the egg of so high a form as the frog can be
made to develop into a perfect and normal animal without a
spermatozoön--although normally the egg of this form does not develop
unless a spermatozoön enters--corroborates the idea expressed in
previous chapters that the egg is the future embryo and animal; and
that the spermatozoön, aside from its activating effect, only transmits
Mendelian characters to the egg. The question arises: Is it possible
to cause a spermatozoön to develop into an embryo? The idea has
been expressed that the egg was only the nutritive medium on which
the spermatozoön developed into an embryo, but this idea has been
rendered untenable by the experiments on artificial parthenogenesis.
Nevertheless the question whether or not the spermatozoön can develop
into an embryo on a suitable culture medium remains, and it can only be
decided by direct experiments. It was shown by Boveri, Morgan, Delage,
Godlewski, and others, that if a spermatozoön enters an enucleated egg
or piece of egg it can develop into an embryo, but since the cytoplasm
of the egg is the future embryo this experiment proves only that
the egg nucleus may be replaced by the sperm nucleus; and also that
the sperm nucleus carries into the egg, the substances which induce
development. Incidentally these experiments on merogony also prove that
the mere mechanical tearing of the cortical layer,--which must happen
in the separation of the unfertilized egg into parts with and without
a nucleus,--by dissection or by shaking, is not sufficient to start
development in the sea-urchin egg.
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