Abstract
WHEN amphibian eggs are exposed to a temperature shock a few minutes after fertilization, the second maturation division may be suppressed, and, by fusion of the haploid sperm with the diploid egg nucleus, triploid embryos may result1,2. In the earliest experiments of this type prolonged treatment with low temperatures (0° to +3° C.) was employed on eggs of Triturus viridescens3, but exposure of freshly laid eggs to a hot shock varying from 35–37° C. for from five to fifty minutes was found to be equally effective in this species4. These techniques have since been employed successfully on several species of Urodela and Anura. To the list of triploids produced experimentally, Xenopus laevis has now been added. This Anuran species is particularly suitable for this research, since reproduction can be induced throughout the year under laboratory conditions, and the young are easily reared, reaching maturity in less than one year.
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SMITH, S. Induction of Triploidy in the South African Clawed Frog, Xenopus laevis (Daudin). Nature 181, 290 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1038/181290a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/181290a0
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