As the oocyte grows and as various inclusions are produced in its cytoplasm, a pattern of organization gradually emerges, which will be of importance when the eggs start developing. The arrangement of various substances and cellular constituents in the advanced oocyte and, later, in the egg shows a polarity, that is, an unequal distribution with respect to what may be [...]
During the growth of the oocyte not only does the amount of cytoplasm increase in quantity, but it changes in quality by the elaboration and regular distribution of various cell inclusions and specially modified parts of the cytoplasm which, are essential for the development of the embryo. In most animals which have been investigated with modern methods, young oocytes show [...]
The cytoplasm of the egg, and particularly its cortex, starts the chain of reactions which eventually leads to the differentiation of parts of the embryo, it should not be assumed that the structure of the future embryo is rigidly determined by local differences in the cytoplasm of the egg. The local peculiarities of the egg cytoplasm are only some of [...]