ELECTRIC IMPEDANCE OF FERTILIZED ARBACIA EGG SUSPENSIONS

Abstract

From the low frequency alternating current impedance and the volume concentrations of suspensions of Arbacia eggs, it is shown that the high resistance membrane is either at or very near the plasma membrane for both unfertilized and fertilized eggs, and that the specific resistances of the perivitelline space and fertilization membrane are not greatly different from that of sea water. The effect of the capacity element which appears after fertilization at intermediate frequencies is considerably less than in the earlier experiments on Arbacia and Hipponoë eggs. These findings indicate that the fertilization membrane does not have the high capacity previously attributed to it and that the increase in membrane capacity takes place at or near the plasma membrane.