Xenbase: a Xenopus web resource

Introduction:

The most striking aspect of the late stage X. laevis oocyte is its asymmetry: a heavily pigmented animal hemisphere, unpigmented equitorial zone, and lightly pigmented vegetal hemisphere.

This visible asymmetry is elaborated at the molecular level - from the acentric position of the nucleus (germinal vesible) to the asymmetric distribution of mRNAs and proteins.