30 



EGG AND SPERM SUBSTANCES 



Table I. Effect of Egg Water and Metal Binding Agents on 

 Oxygen Uptake of Sea Urchin Sperm 



Species 



Reaction 



Reference 



Echinus esculentus -j- Egg water 



Psammechinus 

 miliaris 



Lytechinus 

 variegatus 



Strong ylocentrotus 

 purpuratus 



+ B (thyroxine, desiodo- 

 thyroxine, diiodotyrosine, 

 tyrosine? tryptophane?) 



— B (versene) 



— Egg water (maintains 

 but does not increase QO2) 

 + Egg water 



— B (thyroxine maintains 

 but does not increase QO2) 

 + B (albumen, trypsin, 

 amino acids) 



Lytechinus pictus — Egg water 



— B (amino acids) 



— Egg water 



— B (alanine) 



— Egg water 



Arbacia punctulala — Egg water 



— B (seminal plasma) 



Gray, 1928; Carter. 1930, 

 1931; Vasseur, 1949b 

 Carter, 1931 



Rothschild and Tyler, 1954 



Gray, 1928; Carter, 1930, 



1931 



Vasseur, 1949b; Vasseur, 



Wicklund and Runnstrom, 



1950 



Carter, 1931 



Wicklund, 1954c; Vasseur, 

 Wicklund and Runnstrom, 

 1950 



Spikes, 1949a 



Tyler and Rothschild, 1951 



Greenberg, unpublished 

 Greenberg, unpublished 



Tyler, 1948a; Spikes, 1949a 



Hayashi, 1946 

 Hayashi, 1946 



+ increase in oxygen uptake. 



— no substantial increase. 



B agents which probably bind metals. 



can be a specific response to an agent from eggs of the species. 

 So far no specificity studies have been carried out with respect to 

 this action of egg water. Furthermore, no substantial attempt has 

 yet been made to determine the active agent in egg water. Its 

 identity with or separation from the sperm isoagglutinin, ferti- 

 hzin, is a problem of special interest. The only data available 

 indicate that egg water can agglutinate sea urchin sperm under 

 conditions (absence of calcium) which do not permit formation 



