title: Structure in the amphibian germinal vesicle.
abstract: The germinal vesicle (GV) of Xenopus laevis is an enormous nucleus that contains 18 giant lampbrush chromosomes and thousands of inclusions. The inclusions are primarily of three types: approximately 1500 extrachromosomal nucleoli, 50-100 Cajal bodies, and several thousand B-snurposomes, which correspond to speckles or interchromatin granule clusters in other nuclei. The large size and abundance of the GV organelles, as well as the ease with which they can be studied both in vivo and in vitro, make the GV an ideal object for analysis of nuclear structure and function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA. gall@ciwemb.edu
authors.forename: Joseph G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Gall
authors.forename: Zheng'an
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Hongjuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000663:Amphibians; D000818:Animals; D002466:Cell Nucleolus; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D022003:Cell Nucleus Structures / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002875:Chromosomes; D020541:Coiled Bodies; D009865:Oocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure*