A. Collenot et C. Aimar, HEREDITARY ABNORMAL ACTIVATION IN PLEURODELES WALTL OOCYTES, The International journal of developmental biology, 37(4), 1993, pp. 609-613
A mutation which affects the eggs was detected in a Pleurodeles waltl
laboratory strain. About 4 to 5 hours after fertilization, i.e. before
the first cleavage, mutant eggs exhibited one or more depigmented pat
ches (DR) on the animal hemisphere. Later on, some eggs failed to clea
ve, or cleaved abnormally. However, if gastrulation was successful, fu
rther development occurred normally. Abnormal eggs showed a disorganiz
ation of the vitelline gradient as well as a large lens-like zone of h
yaline cytoplasm lying under the DP and a heterogeneous distribution o
f actin and tubulin in the inner cytoplasm. This mutation was named tu
rbulent egg cytoplasm (tec). The alterations described above seem to b
e related to modifications of the cytoskeleton. Since artificially act
ivated tee ova also exhibited the mutant pattern, we may conclude that
the tee phenotype is expressed as a maternal effect syndrome.