Spontaneous and Induced Triploidy in Pre-Implantation Mouse Eggs

Abstract

ADVANCES in knowledge of plant polyploidy, with their theoretical and practical importance, have led to an interest in polyploidy in the animal kingdom. Among invertebrates, polyploidy is a normal phenomenon in some races (for example, Artemia salina^1,2, Curculionidæ³, Solenobia⁴, Trichoniscus⁵). In vertebrates, a possible polyploid origin of some fish species has been reported⁶, and there is now a considerable body of literature on natural and induced polyploidy in Amphibia^7–12. It would be of interest to extend the study of polyploidy to mammals. The existence of polyploid mammals should throw light on such important problems as, for example, physiological genetics, with special reference to dominance and gene dosage effects in vertebrates¹¹. Information should also be gained on sex determination and developmental processes in general. The existence of polyploid mammals might be of medical and economic interest.