Cellular Basis for the Induction of Morphological Structures

Abstract

DIFFERENTIATION in a higher organism, be it plant or animal, always involves at some stage the development of different morphological entities from different parts of a group of superficially similar cells which are derived by division from a single cell. The group of cells is said to constitute a morphogenetic field. A new, but entirely speculative, interpretation of this phenomenon is proposed here which relies on an induction of polarity in division, and on changes in metabolic pattern in different parts of the cytoplasm with age. It has been shown with plant material that considerable changes in metabolic state may occur within a few hours, and it has been suggested that these are mediated through corresponding changes in the structure of the protein complex.