Embryonic Development

You've come a long way from when you were just a zygote. You probably don't remember this
stage of your life because you were only a newly fertilized egg in the first stage of being a
unique individual. But think about how much has happened to you since then - you developed
and grew, you were born, and now here you are, learning about it all!

As a human you are made up of many trillions of cells, but you weren't always this way. The first
major stage of development a zygote goes through to help you reach this great cellular height is
called cleavage. This is the rapid cell division that leads to a multicellular embryo (to cleave
something is to split or slice it). And, this is such an important stage that we've devoted an entire
lesson to it! Ready to get started?

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Major Events During Cleavage

There are some really important things that happen during cleavage, as well as some processes
that are essentially put on hold. The cell is dividing incredibly fast during cleavage, which means
that the processes that go along with cell division, such as DNA synthesis, mitosis, and
cytokinesis, also occur at rapid-fire speed. But during this time, very few new proteins are made.
The embryo also doesn't do much growing in terms of size during cleavage - it stays the same
size as the zygote! What happens is that, as the cells continue to divide, they divide into smaller
and smaller cells instead of just building up into a larger embryo.

This makes sense if you think about it. If you cut an apple in half, you have divided the apple
into two equal segments. Divide each of those two pieces in half and you now have four. But you
don't have four larger pieces, just four pieces that add up to the same size as the original apple.

In an embryo, this process continues on and on, with each new cell dividing into smaller cells
until a hollow cell ball called a blastula is formed. And inside this ball is a fluid-filled cavity
called the blastocoel. Unlike our apple, though (which is now just many equal-sized pieces of
one apple), each new cell that is formed from division has its own nucleus and is its own
independent cell.

Patterns of Cleavage
Just like animals come in all shapes and sizes, so does the cleavage that creates them. There are
two main patterns of cleavage to be familiar with: complete and incomplete. Complete cleavage
is also called holoblastic cleavage, and incomplete cleavage is called meroblastic cleavage.

The type of cleavage depends on how much yolk is present as well as how that yolk is
distributed. A cleavage furrow is the indentation at which cleavage begins. Think of a cleavage
furrow as being similar to that indentation that appears on your forehead when you 'furrow' your
brow.

Have you ever tried to cut through the middle of a hard-boiled egg? You might have noticed that
it is far easier to cut through the white than the dense yolk in the center. A lot of yolk will lead to
incomplete cleavage because the cleavage furrow can't pass through that yolk, while a smaller
amount of yolk allows the cleavage furrow to pass through completely. To remember the
difference, it might help to think of 'holoblastic' cleavage as cutting through the 'whole' cell.

Animals that tend to have complete cleavage are echinoderms (sea stars, urchins, and the like),
flatworms, mammals, and amphibians. These guys don't have a lot of yolk in their eggs. On the
other hand, animals that do have a lot of yolk and that have incomplete cleavage are things like
fish, reptiles, birds, and even insects.

Lesson Summary
Animal cells undergo something called cleavage, which is the rapid cell division that leads to a
multicellular embryo. You started this stage as a zygote, or newly fertilized egg, and ended as a
blastula, or hollow cell ball.

Depending on what type of animal you are you, would have undergone a different type of
cleavage. If you didn't have much yolk (say if you are a mammal, amphibian, or sea star), you
would have gone through holoblastic or complete cleavage. The little amount of yolk allows the
cleavage furrow to pass through the whole cell. But if you did have a lot of yolk (perhaps you
are a bird, reptile, or fish) you would have gone through meroblastic or incomplete cleavage.
Having so much yolk would have prevented the cleavage furrow from passing through entirely.