- Introduction
- Procedure
- Results/Discussion
- Conclusion
- Figures
- Protocols
- Sources
Conclusion
This experiment demonstrates that embryo twinning of non-regulatively developing embryos is, indeed possible, although not efficient. The findings from the experiment support the original hypothesis that sea urchin twinning can be done successfully, but that the potential viability of the twinned embryos sharply declines after the second cell division. This result also supports the mosaic nature of sea urchin development. Maternal cytoplasmic determinants becoming diffuse and unequally distributed throughout the blastomeres very early on in the development of the embryo is the best explanation for the limited viability of embryos twinned at a late stage. The observation of several partially developed pluteus in these experimental groups also supports this hypothesis.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Judy Cebra-Thomas and Bill Gresh for their assistance in designing and conducting this experiment. We would also like to thank Jan Pechenik for the guidelines used during the writing of this paper.