Ultrastructural aspects of the surface coatings of eggs and larvae of the starfish, Pisaster ochraceus, revealed by alcian blue

Abstract

Eggs of the asteroid Pisaster ochraceus demonstrate cortical granules, a thick vitelline membrane, and a poorly stained jelly coat similar to that seen on the eggs of other echinoderms. When fixed in the presence of alcian blue the jelly coat is seen to be made up of three regions, an inner layer consisting of a meshwork of fibres, a middle layer of thicker fibres, and a dense outer layer. At fertilization the cortical granules release their contents into the potential space between the vitelline layers and a low fertilization membrane consisting of the vitelline layer and a dense component of the corticle granule is formed. Initially the remaining contents of the corticle granules form an amorphous hyaline layer that fills the space between the plasma membrane and the fertilization membrane. At hatching a distinct hyaline layer is present. It persists at least to the bipinnaria stage and consists of four distinct layers. A similar layer is also located over much of the early embryonic endoderm but is lost from the regions involved in the formation of the mesenchyme cells, coelom, and mouth just before these events take place. Numerous large clear vesicles are located in the apex of all cells associated with a hyaline layer. Where the hyaline layer is lacking, only scattered vesicles are present suggesting that the vesicles may be involved in maintenance of the layer. Attempts to identify elements of the hyaline layer by immunofluorescence demonstrated that it appears to bind both antisera and control sera in a nonspecific manner.