Fine structure and early fertilization changes of the animal pole in eggs of the river lamprey, Lampetra fluviatilis
Fertilization is accompanied by changes in the structure of the egg cytoplasm (cf. Rothschild, 1958; Raven, 1961). At the level of fine structure such changes have mainly been studied in some marine invertebrates with small eggs that can easily be fertilized in vitro (Pasteels & de Harven, 1963; Schäfer, 1966). Vertebrate eggs are less favourable in this respect, but electron microscope studies have been made on eggs of mammals (Fléchon, 1966; Zamboni & Mastroianni, 1966; Zamboni, Mishell, Bell & Baca, 1966) and Xenopus (van Gansen, 1966). Changes generally observed soon after fertilization include the formation of polysomes or an increase in their number, a hypertrophy of the Golgi complexes, and the appearance of granulated endoplasmic reticulum and annulate lamellae. Afzelius (1957) observed the dispersal of mitochondria in fertilized sea-urchin eggs. Pasteels & de Harven (1963) reported that the structure and distribution of cytoplasmic organelles in eggs of the bivalve mollusc, Barnea Candida, are not altered by fertilization.