title: Electron microscopic studies of giant nucleus-like structure formed by lambda DNA introduced into the cytoplasm of Xenopus laevis fertilized eggs and embryos.
abstract: When bacteriophage lambda DNA was injected into the cytoplasm of the fertilized egg of Xenopus laevis, giant nucleus-like structures were assembled around the injected DNA. These nucleus-like structures survived during cleavage and were partitioned into blastomeres at the blastula stage. The nucleus-like structures formed in the uncleaved fertilized eggs and the blastula cells were both surrounded by a bilayer nuclear membrane with nuclear pore complexes. The ultrastructural features of the lambda DNA-induced nucleus-like structure were considerably different from those of the normal blastula nucleus: although the nuclear pore complexes appeared to be normal, the 'nucleoplasm' was much too homogeneous as compared with that of the normal nucleus.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D010582:Bacteriophage lambda; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002970:Cleavage Stage, Ovum / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism*; D008845:Microinjections; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009685:Nuclear Envelope / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral