6533b86dfe1ef96bd12c958c

RESEARCH PRODUCT

An Inhibitor of Cytochrome Oxidase Activity in the Sea Urchin Egg

Alberto MonroyRachele Maggio

subject

Isolated mitochondriaMultidisciplinarybiologyChemistryMitochondrionBlastulaInvertebratesElectron Transport Complex IVCytochrome oxidase activityHuman fertilizationBiochemistrySea Urchinsbiology.animalembryonic structuresbiology.proteinAnimalsCytochromesCytochrome c oxidaseRespiratory systemSea urchin

description

PREVIOUS work in this laboratory1,2 has demonstrated the presence of a highly active cytochrome oxidase in the isolated mitochondria of unfertilized sea urchin eggs. This activity is only 25 per cent lower than that of the mitochondria of the newly fertilized egg and up to the blastula stage2. No cytochrome oxidase activity has been found other than in the mitochondria1,3. On the other hand, it is known that the oxygen consumption of the unfertilized sea urchin egg is quite low; fertilization restores a normal respiratory level which increases continuously during the early development (for a discussion, see ref. 4). The suggestion was then made2 that in the unfertilized egg an extra-mitochondrial respiratory inhibitor might be present which would be removed somehow upon fertilization.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
1959-07-01Nature
https://doi.org/10.1038/184068a0