Abstract
Unfertilized Arbacia eggs were used for a study of viscosity changes under suppressed respiration by the inhibitor sodium azide, or by nitrogen substituted for oxygen in the medium. The width of the clear zone produced by centrifugation of treated and control eggs was taken as an index of the cytoplasmic viscosity. Azide produced a conspicuous rise in viscosity within 15 minutes of treatment. Eggs placed in sea water with Nitrogen substituted for Oxygen took several hours before a similar rise in viscosity took place. When treated eggs from both azide and N2 vessels, were washed and returned to sea water, they regained normal viscosity; they were also fertilizable indicating no permanent change during treatment.
It was concluded that oxidative energy is required for maintenance of protein structure in living cells.
