DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY LAB – ACTIVITY NO.

So, moving forward to the other questions.

2) Classify the type of egg that you have examined based on the amount of yolk.

The types of the egg can be categorized based on the amount of yolk and according to the
distribution of yolk.

So, for the types of eggs based on the amount of yolk it can be classified into Alecithal,
Microlecithal, Mesolecithal and Macrolecithal.

Alecithal – Negligible in of yolk, Examples (human and other mammals – placental mammals)
Microlecithal – Small amount of yolk. Example (Echinoderms “sea urchin”, Branchiostoma,
Amphioxus and Marsupials)

The chicken and fish egg contains large amount of yolk therefore the type of egg based on the
amount of yolk is macrolecithal or polylecithal egg. While the frog’s egg is mesolecithal egg
because it contains moderate amount of yolk. The following ways: gradual increase in the
amount of yolk, formation of spindles, cell membranes, cleavage furrows and the speed of eggs
undergo cleavage stage.

3) Give the importance of the yolk content on early stages of embryonic

development, specifically during cleavage stage.
 Most animals' cleavage follows a predictable pattern, with the initial division occurring in
the plane of the egg's major axis. This cleavage plane is referred to as vertical arbitrarily, based
on the premise that the egg's primary axis is vertical. The quantity of yolk in the egg effects
cleavage by obstructing the cytoplasmic motions that occur during mitosis. When there is just a
small amount of yolk (oligolecithal eggs), the yolk granules follow the cytoplasm's motions and
are dispersed in the blastomeres that arise. If the yolk content is higher (megalecithal eggs),
cleavages occur closer to the animal pole, where there is less yolk; as a result, blastomeres closer
to the animal pole are smaller than those closer to the vegetal pole. The presence of yolk masses
can delay or even prevent cleavage in some parts of the egg; in this instance, cleavage is partial,
or meroblastic.

4) Which of the vertebrate egg you observed will cleave faster? Which one will
cleave slower? Explain.

The amount of yolk affects not only cleavage pattern, but also the developmental mode exhibited by
embryos. Most animals receive no direct nourishment from the mother during embryonic development.
However, the mother indirectly provides her eggs with nourishment by provisioning the egg (during
oogenesis) with yolk, which fuels development until the offspring is able to obtain food on its own.

The speed of cleavage is inversely proportional to the amount of yolk present. In the telolecithal
eggs, blastomeres nearer to the animal pole divide at a faster rate than the blastomeres located
towards the vegetal pole. Amphibian eggs are called mesolecithal because they have a moderate
amount of yolk concentrated in the vegetal pole. The opposite animal pole contains mostly
cytoplasm and very little yolk. Mesolecithal eggs also cleave haloblastically, but cleavage is
substantially retarded in the yolk- rich vegetal pole. Therefore, it cleaves slower than the other
vertebrate eggs. Meanwhile, the chicken and fish eggs (telolecithal) cleave faster than frog’s
because they contain an abundance of yolk that is densely concentrated at the vegetal pole of the
egg.

Generalization:

In conclusion, the fish, frogs, and chicken eggs are three organisms in which the embryonic
development is easy to observe either directly or indirectly. Frogs and fish have a jelly- like
covering, while chicken eggs have hard shell, and must be fertilized internally. The hard shell
prevents the egg from drying out. They also differ from what type of egg based on the yolk
content. The chicken and fish egg contains large amount of yolk and the type of egg based on
how much yolk it contains is macrolecithal or polylecithal egg. The frog's egg is mesolecithal
egg because it contains moderate amount of yolk.

Since, the goal of the development is the production of a multicellular organism, many cells
must be produced from the single-celled zygote. This task is to be accomplished by cleavage, a
series of consecutive cell divisions. Cells produced during cleavage are called blastomeres.
During cleavage, almost no growth occurs between consecutive divisions, and the total volume
of living matter does not change substantially; consequently, the size of the cells is reduced by
almost half at each division. Although the yolk's biological function is to nourish the growing
embryo, it is not a component of the active cytoplasm. Yolk is a dead and inactive component
that does not participate in cellular functions; however, it does impact cleavage in the following
ways: gradual increase in the amount of yolk, formation of spindles, cell membranes, cleavage
furrows and the speed of eggs undergo cleavage stage.