Cleavage in the chick embryo.

Chick embryos ranging from the stage of first cleavage to that of about 700 cells were removed from the oviduct and examined by transmission electron microscopy. Beneath the cell membrane is yolk-free cortical region containing microfilaments. Beneath this lies cytoplasm which contains yolk spheres which are graded in size, the dorsal ones being smaller than the ventral ones. The subgerminal periblast possesses a greater proportion of yolk to cytoplasm than do the cells proper, but it merges with the cytoplasm at the incomplete borders of the 'open' cells. Specialized accumulations of membranes lie in the marginal periblast, and it is suggested that they play a role in cell membrane formation.