Inhibition of respiration and of respiratory development by different doses of chloramphenicol in frog embryos (Rana pipiens).

High doses of chloramphenicol (4.5 and 9 mM) directly inhibited respiration in conjunction with an unusual cleavage anomaly (blastomere refusion) in embryos of the frog, Rana pipiens. Lower doses (2.1-3 mM) did not affect respiration or cleavage and, when added later, did not directly affect respiration or development at any tested stage. Continuous incubation in the latter doses, however, did eventually, by day 6 or 7, produce a parallel retardation of embryonic development and of respiratory development relative to controls, suggestive of impaired mitochondrial biogenesis. A lower continuous dose (0.9 mM) affected neither respiration nor development at any stage.