Ultrastructure of early cleavage and yolk extrusion in the marsupial Antechinus stuartii

The fertilized egg and the two-cell stage and four-cell stage of the marsupial Antechinus stuartii were studied by transmission electron microscopy. The features that make the fertilized egg of Antechinus stuartii different from those of any eutherian mammal are (1) the presence of a shell and (2) the relatively large quantity and polarized distribution of cytoplasmic inclusions, including lipid, protein yolk bodies, and protein fibers. Mitochondria and vesicles of smooth endoplasmic reticulum are also polarized in distribution. Early cleavage differs from that of eutherians in several ways: (1) it occurs in the uterus; (2) there is extrusion of a large, single, membrane-bound yolk mass at first cleavage; and (3) blastomeres become separated after the second cleavage division and thus do not adhere by cell-to-cell contacts. Prior to the second division, blastomeres are connected to each other by remnants of the midbody and to the yolk mass by remnants of a cytoplasmic bridge. The yolk mass after extrusion is surrounded by plasma membrane and contains inclusions of lipid, protein yolk bodies, and fibers, as well as mitochondria and smooth endoplasmic reticulum. The blastomeres of the two-cell and four-cell stages also show intracellular polarization in the distribution of retained inclusions and organelles. Vesicles developing at the periphery of blastomeres and discharging their contents extracellularly increase in size and number from the fertilized egg to the four-cell stage. The discharged contents may be implicated in early development of the blastula cavity.