Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published September 1969 | public
Journal Article

Synchronous oogenesis in Engystomops pustulosus, a neotropic anuran suitable for laboratory studies: Localization in the embryo of RNA synthesized at the lampbrush stage

Abstract

An investigation of several tropical frogs was undertaken in order to find species in which synchronous oogenesis takes place, so that the RNA synthesized at the lampbrush stage could be labelled and followed through early development. The reproductive cycle of Engystomops pustulosus was found to include both synchronous and asynchronous phases. Laboratory maintenance and induction of synchronous oogenesis in this organism are described. By using toads carrying out synchronous oogenesis, RNA synthesized during the lampbrush stage was shown to be retained through gastrulation. The pattern of new RNA synthesis in the embryo resembles that in other anurans. Radioautographs suggest that the distribution in the embryo of maternal RNA synthesized at the lampbrush stage is distinct from that of RNA newly synthesized by the embryo; the possible implications of these observations are discussed.

Additional Information

© 1969 Wiley-Liss, Inc. This project was carried out in the laboratory of Professor Alfred. E. Mirsky, whose support we gratefully acknowledge. The authors acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Panama Canal Zone, and of its staff, in carrying out the field work connected with this research. Dr. Neal G. Smith and Dr. A. S. Rand of S.T.R.I. have been particularly helpful to us. We are also indebted to Mr. Paul Lizardi, who carried out a portion of both the field and laboratory operations reported here. Miss Ana Yam, Miss Maggie Chamberlin and Mr. Wm. Viets have all provided competent and painstaking technical assistance in handling the laboratory Engystomops colony. It also gives us pleasure to acknowledge the hard work and effective assistance in the field provided by Mrs. Lyn Davidson in three of the expeditions to Panama, and by Dr. Caleb E. Finch in the fourth.

Additional details

Created:
September 15, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023