Magnesium deficiency in embryos of Xenopus laevis.

Embryos of Xenopus laevis reared in media with various low (less than or equal to 10(-5) M) magnesium ion concentrations will exhibit differing degrees of a potentially lethal magnesium starvation syndrome depending on the ion concentration and rearing temperature. The higher the rearing temperature or the lower the magnesium ion content of the medium the more severely the syndrome will be expressed. (Normal development can be expected at temperatures 13-30 degrees C and magnesium ion concentrations greater than 10(-5)M to 10(-2) M.). The magnesium deficiency syndrome in Xenopus embryos is described in detail and compared with the normal and anucleolate conditions. The deficiency condition becomes manifest after hatching as retarded growth and differentiation with progressive paralysis and edema. At the same time alterations are observed in the pattern of soluble proteins. The use of magnesium ions as a probe for investigating developing systems is discussed.