Histochemical studies of jelly coat of sea-urchin eggs during oogenesis

Jelly coat of sea-urchin eggs consists of polysaccharides and glycoproteins. Some properties of jelly coat have already been investigated, but not histochemically. The oogenesis in Paracentrotus lividus was studied histologically and the oocytes were classified into six different stages. The extracellular jelly appeared first around the growing oocytes II which remained attached to the germinal epithelium. The jelly became thicker when the oocyte approached maturation. Histochemical analysis revealed that the jelly consists of mucopolysaccharide-protein-complexes. The polysaccharide component is composed of both neutral and acid mucopolysaccharides. The former are amylase-resistant. The acid mucopolysaccharides contain both carboxyl and sulfate groups, which are in close proximity to vicinal hydroxyl groups. Sulfated mucopolysaccharide is hyaluronidase-resistant. Sialic acid could not be clearly demonstrated, because it seems to be resistant to neuraminidase. Pepsin digestion indicated the masking of acidic groups by proteins which compete with basic dyes (Alcian blue, Azure A, coriphosphine etc.). Proteolytic digestion enhanced dye-binding ability of jelly, but removed also some of the periodate-reactive mucosubstances. Also a protein component could be demonstrated histochemically. No histochemical difference between jelly coat of oocytes and that of eggs has been found. The possible molecular structure of jelly coat is discussed.